It is disappointing, though hardly surprising, that a former land acquisition officer in Madaripur who was caught embezzling Tk 7.35 crore from the government coffer has, as punishment, only been demoted from the position of senior assistant secretary to assistant secretary. Essentially, he is the latest public servant caught involved in corruption to have gotten away with just a slap on the wrist. As per a report in this daily, Promatha Ranjan Ghatak provided Tk 7.35 crore of public money as compensation to five individuals in June 2021, supposedly to acquire their land for the Padma Bridge project in Madaripur's Magurkhanda area. However, subsequent investigations by the public administration ministry discovered that the land never belonged to the five. The land, in fact, belonged to the government, to acquire which not a single penny had to be spent.

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Just a slap on the wrist?

As per the gazette notification, Promatha issued compensation cheques dated back to June 30, 2021, his final working day in Madaripur, despite the power of attorney documents being dated July 11, 2021. The notice stated that he knowingly aided in unlawful withdrawal of government funds with corrupt intentions. Yet, the public administration ministry decided to give him the lightest possible punishment under the civil service rules.

At present, Promatha is working as deputy chief (hydrologist) at the National River Conservation Commission. Even senior government officials have expressed shock at the fact that he still has a job. They said Promatha has only been punished for "misconduct" despite clear evidence of "corruption"—and that such weak steps against corrupt officials are what further encourage public servants to engage in corruption, thinking they too will be able to get away with minimum consequences.

Despite the fact that the prime minister herself had issued a warning against entertaining any sort of corruption and irregularities in any public sector back in January, nothing seems to have changed. That corruption has spiralled out of control, despite the government's so-called zero tolerance for corruption, is evident in the fact that Bangladesh has been demoted two notches in the recent Corruption Perception Index 2023, to the lowest rank the country has held since 2008. As such, it is high time the authorities took strong action against corrupt public servants to cleanse the administration of rampant irregularities and dishonest practices.