All pervasive corruption
I was gathering all the documents required by the US embassy. One of it was police clearance. It is a regulation inquiry. I left this till the end, why? Well I was just too afraid to go and meet the people who are supposed to be there to make me feel safe. Well, my father and me went to the police station and asked for a police clearance certificate, and we learned that the government demands a service charge. I don't remember the exact amount but we went to the bank and paid the money. When we came back to the station with the receipt, the woman who was in charge of the record section gave me a heavenly smile and said," Son, for a police clearance you have to give Tk 275. It is rated, so I can't don anything." I was so amazed at this exhibition of shameless corruption that I just couldn't say a word. In a week's time I went to the GPO, the Education Board office, City Corporation office and everywhere I had to pay service charge to the government and service charge to the government officials!
I guess when international observers talk about corruption in the public service sector, they are talking about incidents like this. And yes, corruption like this does exist in Bangladesh.
Transparency International has just released their 2005 report, and Bangladesh has again shown its love for consistency!
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