Beneficiaries paid Tk220 to get Tk2,500 from PM’s cash incentive:

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) today said that all beneficiaries had to pay Tk220 each on average as bribe to get cash incentives of Tk2,500 announced by the prime minister amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Besides, around 12% beneficiaries had become victims of irregularities and corruption while enlisting their names in the cash incentive list, TIB said while virtually revealing a study report.

For the study, TIB collected records of 1,050 people in 35 districts across the country who were given Tk2,500 as cash incentive. It also recorded opinions of 960 people of three districts over the irregularities in getting the open market sale (OMS) cards amid the prevailing coronavirus crisis.

The anti-corruption watchdog conducted the survey between June 16 and October 31 this year, Md Julkarnain, deputy manager of the Research and Policy Affair Department of TIB, informed while presenting the report.

Around 36.1% beneficiaries were harassed while managing recommendations from influential people, 18.9% were forced to pay bribes, while around 10.6% were denied of the cash incentive.

The survey showed that around 56% beneficiaries of the cash incentive have become victims of irregularities and corruption.

Taking part in the virtual event, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman underscored the need for undertaking a collective action plan and its transparent implementation to face the second possible wave of coronavirus outbreak in winter.

He also placed a 15-point recommendation to implement the action plan in dealing with the pandemic.

All indicators in national as well as the local levels were ignored in tackling the spread of the coronavirus across the country, he said.

The government health sector has plunged into a crisis in dealing with the issue while a group of people indulged in corruption, thus involving beneficiaries in a corruption spree as well.

Formalities were maintained by transferring some corrupt people and making them officers on special duty (OSD) as part of the departmental action in the name of punishment, he said.

But there was no instance of exemplary punishment, the TIB executive director said, adding that the Anti-Corruption Commission has become a bit active but it has failed to cross its boundary.