Discussions and criticisms are going on across the country about the prevalence of corruption among government employees. In the meantime, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the government to collect information on the assets of government employees and update it regularly to prevent corruption.

This was suggested in a staff report released by the IMF on Tuesday (June 25) after approving the third tranche of a $4.7 billion loan to Bangladesh.

Government party parliamentarians are also emphasizing on bringing them under control by raising questions in the national parliament about the prevalence of corruption among government employees.

The IMF said that in order to deal effectively with corruption, sanctions should be imposed for non-compliance. Government officials need to strengthen the asset declaration process by adopting a standardized approach for regular updates of assets.

The multilateral lending agency also said that the development of good governance and prevention of corruption will contribute greatly to improving the business environment in the country. Improving revenue and financial governance, increasing transparency and strengthening the policy framework will also play an important role in creating a better business environment.

In 1979, the provision of submission of asset account of government employees every five years was introduced. There are currently around 15 lakh government employees in the country. This rule is added to the code of conduct to ensure the accountability of the employee. However, the rule could not be fully implemented for more than four decades.

In the past, isolated ministries have not received much response from their subordinates even asking for asset statements.

According to rules 12 and 13 of the Government Servants Act (Conduct) Rules, 1979, instructions are given for acquisition, sale and filing of asset statement of immovable property of Government servants. Even, they have to take permission from the government to buy or sell any property including land, house and flat. In case of purchase of assets, the source of money should also be disclosed. Again, if the asset is sold, the price must be reported. Because, there is an opportunity to check whether the asset is sold at a lower price or not.

During the caretaker government in 2007, when strict orders were given to submit asset accounts, all employees submitted them. In 2015, the government asked another round of government employees to submit the asset account after discussions on various sides. A few ministries then managed to account for the assets of the employees under their control, but most failed.