ED: Putting an end to irregularities in the public sector

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s emphatic warning, where she urged government officials and public servants to maintain professionalism, honesty, sincerity, and devotion to their work, while stating that misdeeds and irregularities will not be tolerated, is exactly the sort of exhortation that the public officials of Bangladesh needed.

Too often, we find our public servants, regardless of their rank or which sector they work in, showing blatant disregard towards their jobs and responsibilities, swayed instead by the culture of impunity and corruption that has, for far too long, defined our public sector. Ultimately, through the actions of the unprincipled public servants -- who have an obligation to work for the greater good of the public -- it is the people who suffer the most.

This is an extremely disheartening reality because, in spite of the incredible progress Bangladesh has made under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, there is no doubt that this culture of corruption and irregularities has held back the country from reaching even greater heights.

Bangladesh is looking ahead to hitting a number of economic milestones over the next decade, namely to finalize graduating from a least developed country (LDC) to a middle income economy and to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, now is the time to take a close look at our public administration, and as the PM noted, take a zero tolerance approach to irregularities, dishonesty, and corruption, so that Bangladesh not only fulfills its economic ambitions, but surpasses them, and reaches its full potential as a developed, equitable nation.