Contents

Chapter1: Introductory Discussion (1-7)

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background of the Study

1.3 Significance of the Study

1.4 Research Problem

1.5 Research Question

1.6 Research Hypothesis

Chapter 2: Research Methods (8-10)

2.1 Data Collection

2.2 Primary Data

2.3 Secondary Data

Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework (11-19)

3.1 What is Corruption?

3.2 Forms of Corruption

3.2.1 Bribery

3.2.2 Favoritism and Nepotism

3.2.3 Fraud

3.2.4 Embezzlement

3.2.5 Extortion

3.3 What is Political or Grand Corruption?

3.4 What is Bureaucratic, Administrative or Petty Corruption?

Chapter 4: Causes of Corruption in Bangladesh (20-38)
4.1 Factors behind the Causation of Corruption
4.1.1 Corruption and Level of Economic Development

4.1.2 Corruption and Level of Wages

4.1.3 Corruption and Greed or Desire for an Unfair Advantage

4.1.4 Corruption and Level of Democracy

4.1.5 Corruption and Lack of Transparency

4.1.6 Corruption and lack of Punitive Measures

4.1.7 Corruption and Lake of Free Press

4.1.8 Corruption and Role of International Trade

4.1.9 Corruption and Role of International Corporations

4.1.10 Corruption and Role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

4.1.11 Corruption and Opportunity to Wash Black Money Clean

4.1.12 Corruption and Status of Government Institutions

Chapter 5: Impacts of corruption on Bangladesh’s Contemporary

Development (39-46)
5.1 Economic impact

5.2 Political impacts:

5.3 Social impacts:

5.4 environmental Impact

Chapter 6: Concluding Remarks (47-48)

Bibliography
 Chapter1: Introductory Discussion

1.1 Introduction:

Corruption is a social and ethical problem. It‟s like a disease to a

country and only compared with cancer. Corruption is found almost
everywhere; it does not only occur in poor or developing countries
but also in developed countries. Corruption is a complex and ancient
phenomenon and its roots lie deep in bureaucratic and political
institutions and its effect on development varies with country to
country. Although corruption is an old problem but it has recently
attracted attention of policymakers and researchers in last 3o or 40
years.

Like other countries corruption is not a new phenomenon in

Bangladesh and it arises from deeply roofed characteristics in the
administrative and socio-political systems which have evolved over
centuries Bangladesh suffers from several problems such as
population problem, illiteracy, lack of resources, backward economy,
political instability and mostly corruption at all levels of society and
government. In our country corruption has been regarded as an
integral part of our economic, political and social life since
independence.

1
 Transparency international identified corruption is one of the
greatest challenges of the contemporary world. Transparency
international rated Bangladesh as the world‟s most corrupt country
for five successive years form 2001-2005. In 2012 Bangladesh was
13th most corruption wrecked country According to TI Corruption
Perception index 2012. In a developing or less developed country
such as Bangladesh corruption is seen as one of the reasons for
underdevelopment.

1.2 Background of the study:

Corruption is considered as a permanent or existing problem for

human civilization because of its adverse impact on the progress of
humankind and all scale of development. As a less developed
country corruption is quite old phenomenon in Bangladesh. A few
centuries back, The East India Company Seized power in Bengal in
1757 and they perpetuated a highly corrupt system. Another old
famous corrupted example is Ayub Khans basic democracy program
it introduced during the 1960s to strength local government.

After independence the corruption have engulfed the entire

society ant it has been recognized as a national challenge ever since.
Since that Bangladeshi leaders have express complete disapproval to
the high incidence of corruption but after the return of democracy in
1990s neither government has not took effective action to address the

2
root of corruption and how to combat with it. Although the
constitution of Bangladesh in 1972 Article no 20 paragraph 2
maintained that “The state shall endeavour to create conditions in
which, as a general principle, person shall not be able to enjoy
unearned income.

Corruption is now prevailing in almost all areas of government

and some private organizations activities in Bangladesh from top to
down level. It prevails from policymaker to field level workers.
Politicians, law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, custom
officials, all are the most important targets for public sector bribery.
People don‟t get service until they give bribe but this service must be
free of cost.

Transparency International ranked Bangladesh as world top most

corrupt country for five year form 2001-2005. Since then corruption
in public sector has been become a much talked and serious issue in
Bangladesh and contemporary Bangladesh research. TI considers
both political and administrative corruption to create corruption
perception index. Last year Bangladesh has improved ranking 13th in
CPI, but there is nothing visible change and it seems political and
bureaucratic corruption is still uncontrolled. Although there is a
national consensus has emerged about the need to fight against
corruption.

3
1.3 Significance of the study:

Corruption! I think it‟s very well-known to contemporary

world and also in Bangladesh. World wide many researcher have
been working on this topic they developed different theory, concept,
causes, impacts, consequences of corruption according to their
countries interest or perspective. Different writers all over the world
tried to discus corruption form different viewpoint.

Gjalt graaf (2007), Shraboni saha (2000), Tina sorcide (2002),

Daniel treisman (2000) worked on corruption mainly focused on
causes and consequences of corruption.

Odd H Fjeldstad (2002), Toke Aidt, Jayasri Datta, vonia sena

(2007), Harry seldadyo (2003) worked on Government perspective of
corruption.

Sebastian Freille (2007), Quamrul Mahmud (2008), Jens chr

Andvig, odd H. Fjeldstand (2008) worked on corruption and its
effects on development and growth.

Peter Langseth (1999), A.H. Mollah, Nizam Uddin, Bashir

Ahmed (2006), Aminur Rahman, Gregory Kisunko, kopil kapoor
(1997) worked on preventive mechanisms of corruption.

Mohabbat Khan (1997), Muzaffar Ahmed (2004), worked on

Bangladeshi Governance, political administrative aspects of
corruption. Tareq zahidul Haque (2012) worked in media‟s role and
public sector corruption in Bangladesh. Habibulla pulok (2010)

4
worked on impact of corruption in Economic development of
Bangladesh.

There are different studies about corruption but in Bangladesh

there are only few of study regarding this topic. Although there are
lots of resources to conduct a good research this topic. Here only
Transparency International Bangladesh published yearly report and
some NGOs is working on it. This attracted me to start this study. In
this study will try to clear the concept of corruption and verify the
major causes of corruption, consequences of corruption both
economical and social development. Lastly hope this study may be
helpful to future corruption combating strategy in Bangladesh.

1.4 Research Problem:

This Study Corruption in Bangladesh: Causes and impacts on

contemporary development are to find out some facts such as why
people really engage in corruption or causes of corruption in
Bangladesh, The present scenario of political, administrative &
private sector corruption in Bangladesh, both economic and social
consequences of corruption in Bangladesh. Is corruption hinders to
Bangladesh development and how can we overcome this situation in
Bangladesh.

5
1.5 Research Question:

The Study in particular aims at answering the following questions:

(i) What is corruption and why people engage in corruption?

(ii) What kind of environment helps corruption to flourish?

(iii) In which sector corruption is most prevalent?

(Iv) What is the role of democracy in creation of corruption?

(v) Is lower wages of government officials creating corruption?

(vi) Does corruption affect growth?

(vii) Why Anti corruption laws are not always enforced?

1.7 Research Hypothesis:

Hypothesis of this study are follows:

Hypothesis 1: The levels of economic development are related to level of

corruption. Corruption will be lower in more economically developed countries &
higher in less developed countries.

6
Hypothesis 2: The level of Corruption is connected with income level of a
country. Corruption will be lower in countries with higher salaries in public office
& higher in countries with low salaries.

Hypothesis 3: The strength of democracy is correlated to the corrupt behavior;

strong democratic countries have lower corruption & week democratic countries
may have higher corruption.

Hypothesis 4: The freedom of press is also related to the level of corruption,

countries with freedom of press affected with less corruption.

Hypothesis 5: Effectiveness of the legal or punishment system will be greater

the rate of corruption will lower & comparatively lower legal or penal system
encourages higher corruption.

Hypothesis 6: Transparency is importantly connected to corruption, where

countries agencies are transparent there must be low corruption & lack of
transparency may create higher corruption.

7
 Chapter 2: Research Methods

Research methods are the process of investigating an empirical

phenomenon and it is followed by a set of pre-specified procedures.
However one of the core issues to any kind of research is its
methodology and steps which are applied to collect the relevant data
and analyzing them for reaching to a proper ending

Research methods are conventionally divided into three ways

quantitative, qualitative, and participatory. In this study I used both
of quantitative and qualitative methods. I used quantitative methods
because this study needs quantitative answers to some questions and
I also used qualitative interviews to get answers.

2.1 Data Collection:

Therefore data for this research was collected from both

secondary and primary sources. Primary sources were derived form
questionnaire and related governmental reports and surveys.
Secondary sources included published and unpublished academic and
non academic materials such as newspapers, Journals, books,
magazine data have been used.

2.1.1 Primary Data:

To collect the primary data I follow some methods such as questionnaire

& interviews.

Questionnaires:
I made an open ended questionnaire for collecting my data because
it‟s easy to understand and answer. My questionnaires are bases upon

8
the variables that I find out before starting this study. In this study, a
manageable sample size, which might be treated as good enough, was targeted. But
due to time limit & resources the sample size was curtailed down. All together 20
people responded to the questionnaire.

Interviews:

Interviews are a method of data collecting. There are some ways of

interview- personal, face to face interview; self administered
Questionnaires, telephone interview. Here I follow face to face
interview & self administered Questionnaires process. According to Taylor
and Bogdan (1984), the interview is a research method designed to understand the
informants‟ perspectives on their lives, experiences or situations expressed in their
own words. 1 In this study the targeted people I interviewed Most of they are
teachers, students & government officials, some businessman are also interviewed
but the lacks is interview of political figures.

Table 1: Interview respondents of the questionnaire

Position No. Of Respondents

Teacher (University) 2
Teacher (High school) 2
Teacher (College) 2
Students (university) 12
Business Men 2
Total 20

1
Ahmed C. Saber, 2010, Participation in Forestry: Social Forestry Policy in Bangladesh Myth or Reality?, A H
Development Publishing House, Dhaka, p:13

9
2.1.2 Secondary Data:

Secondary data is basically used for the reanalysis of previously collected

and analyzed data. There are some clear advantages to working with an existing

body of data. Secondary sources are simply published & unpublished books and

articles by scholars. In this study the use of books, journals, reports, official

records and documents have been some of the most important sources of data

collection. In order to collect secondary materials I visited library and different

relevant web sources like Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Anti

Corruption Commission Bangladesh (ACC).

10
 Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework

The main purpose of this part is to develop a clear concept about corruption. In this
part different types & forms of corruption are discussed to clear the idea.
Corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon with multiple causes and
effects, as it takes on various forms and functions in different contexts. The
phenomenon of corruption ranges from the single act of a payment contradicted by
law to an endemic malfunction of a political and economic system. The problem of
corruption has been seen either as a structural problem of politics or economics, or
as a cultural and individual moral problem. The definition of corruption
consequently ranges from the broad terms of „misuse of public power‟ and „moral
decay‟ to strict legal definitions of corruption as an act of bribery involving a
public servant and a transfer of tangible resources.

Figure 1: Different types and Forms of Corruption

Bribery

Political or Grand Favourism

Corruption

Corruption Fraud
Bureaucratic or
Petty Corruption
Embezzlement

Extortion

11
3.1 What is Corruption?
A common definition of public corruption is the misuse of public office for
private gain. Misuse, of course, typically involves applying a legal standard.
Corruption defined this way would capture, for example, the sale of government
property by government officials, kickbacks in public procurement, bribery and
embezzlement of government funds.2
The word corruption derives from the Latin corrumpere, and the term
„corrupt‟ invokes a range of images of evil and illegal activities; it designates that
which destroys wholesomeness. Although there is no universally accepted
definition of this phenomenon yet, the common factor among most of the existing
definitions is the abuse of public office or power for private gain. Corruption
means charging an illicit price for a service or using of power of the office to
further illicit aims. The definition taken by the ADB (1999) and World Bank is „the
misuse of public or private office for personal advantage.‟ Similarly, the definition
of Transparency International (TI) is “Corruption involves behavior on the part of
officials in the public sector, whether politicians or civil servants, in whom they
improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves, or those close to them, by the
misuse of the public power entrusted to them” (TI 1996).3
Corruption is a complex issue, grounded in a country's social and cultural
history, its political and economic development, and its bureaucratic traditions and
policies. To generalize, corruption tends to flourish, when institutions are weak and
economic policies distort market place (World Bank: 1997).4

2
Svensson Jakob, 2005, Eight Questions about Corruption, Journal of Economic Perspectives-Volume 19, p- 21
3
Ahmed Bashir, 2006, Combating Corruption: The Role of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) in Bangladesh,
Lund University, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, pp: 10-11
4
Hossain Awal, Uddin Nizam, 2002, Combating Corruption in Bangladesh: Some Strategies, University of
Rajshahi, Bangladesh. P: 3

12
 Another widely used description is that corruption is a transaction between
private and public sector actors through which collective goods are illegitimately
converted into private-regarding payoffs. In Colin Nye‟s classical definition,
corruption is behaviour that deviates from the formal duties of a public role
(elective or appointive) because of private-regarding (personal, close family,
private clique) wealth or status gains. An updated version with the same elements
is the definition by Mushtaq Khan, who says corruption is “behaviour that deviates
from the formal rules of conduct governing the actions of someone in a position of
public authority because of private-regarding motives such as wealth, power, or
status” (Khan 1996). Samuel Huntington noted that where political opportunities
are scarce, corruption occurs as people use wealth to buy power, and where
economic opportunities are few, corruption occurs when political power is used to
pursue wealth (Huntington 1968).5
Most definitions refer to the use of public office for private advantage, in
ways which transgress formal rules or law. Werner (1983) suggests three types of
definition:
i. Public office-centred definitions which involve a deviation from legal and
public duty norms for private benefit, whether in the form of pecuniary,
status or influence gains;
ii. Market-centred definitions viewing corruption as a maximizing activity in
which officials manipulate pecuniary gains according to the supply and
demand in the market place of their official domains;
iii. Public interest-centred definitions stressing the betrayal of public interest by
preferring particular to common interests.6

5
Andvig Jens and Fjeldstad Odd-Helge, 2001, Corruption A Review of Contemporary Research, Chr. Michelsen
Institute, Bergen, Norway. P: 12
6
David J. Lewis, 1996, Corruption in Bangladesh: Disclosure Judgments and Moralities, University of Barth, UK.
pp: 8-9

13
 Klitgaard (1998) has given a very simple definition of this multidimensional
subject as: C = M + D – A – S, where C = Corruption, M = Monopoly, D =
Discretion, A = Accountability, S = Public Sector Salaries.
Corruption is the result of weak state management and it exists when individuals or
Organizations have monopoly power over a good or service, discretion over
making decisions, limited or no accountability and low level of income. 7
According to Transparency International (TI-2009), corruption is the misuse
of entrusted political power for personal gain.8
Corruption has been defined in many different ways, each lacking in some
aspect. A few years ago, the question of definition absorbed a large proportion of
the time spent on discussions of corruption at conferences and meeting. However it
may be difficult to describe, but it is generally not difficult to recognize when
observed.

3.2 Forms of Corruption:

There are many types of corruption. According to a number of basic
characteristics, the main forms considered are Bribery, Nepotism, Embezzlement,
Fraud and Extortion.

3.2.1 Bribery:
Bribery is the payment (in money or kind) that is given or taken in a corrupt
relationship. To pay or receive a bribe is corruption, and should be understood as
the essence of corruption. A bribe is a fixed sum, a certain percentage of a contract,
7
Ahmed K. Siam, 2011, Economical Development Of Bangladesh- Problems & Solutions, Arcada University Of
Applied Sciences, Helsinki, p: 51
8
Pulok Habibullah, 2010, The Impact of Corruption on Economic Development of Bangladesh, Stockholm
University, p: 7

14
or any other favour in money of kind, usually paid to a state official or politicians
who can make contracts on behalf of the state or otherwise distribute benefits to
companies or individuals, businessmen and clients. There are many equivalent
terms to bribery, like kickbacks, gratuities, commercial arrangements, baksheesh,
sweeteners, pay-offs, speed- or grease money, which are all notions of corruption
in terms of the money or favours paid to employees in private enterprises, public
officials, and politicians. These are payments or returns needed or demanded to
make things pass swifter, smoother or more favourably through the private, state or
government bureaucracies. By “greasing palms” corporations and business
interests can for instance buy political favours and escape the full burden of
taxation and environmental regulations, they can buy protected markets and
monopolies, import/export licenses and quotas, and get access to large state
contracts on capital goods, on-going supplies, major civil engineering projects,
construction works, and so on.9

3.2.2 Favoritism & Nepotism:

Favoritism shown by public officials or politicians to relatives or close
friends, favouritism, nepotism and clientelism all involve abuses of discretion,
Article 7 of the UN Convention covers merit selection without even mentioning
nepotism. Such abuses usually involve not a direct personal benefit to an official
but promote the interests of those linked to the official, be it through family,
political party, tribe, or religious group.10

9
Andvig Jens and Fjeldstad Odd-Helge, 2001, Corruption A Review of Contemporary Research, Chr. Michelsen
Institute, Bergen, Norway, p: 8
10
United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC), 2004, United Nations Handbook on Practical Anti-Corruption
Measures for Prosecutors and Investigators, Vienna, p: 28

15
3.2.3 Fraud:
Fraud is an economic crime that involves some kind of trickery, swindle or
deceit. Fraud involves a manipulation or distortion of information, facts and
expertise, by public officials positioned between politicians and citizens, who seek
to draw a private profit. Fraud is when a public official (agent), who is responsible
for carrying out the orders or tasks assigned by his superiors (principal),
manipulates the flow of information to his private profit; hence the widely used
principal-agent or incentive theory employed by economists to study this
phenomenon.11

3.2.4 Embezzlement:
Embezzlement is theft of public resources by public officials or politicians,
and as such it is understood as another form of misappropriation of public funds.
Embezzlement is theft of resources by people who are put to administer it; it is
when disloyal employees steal from their employers. This is a serious offence
when public officials are misappropriating public resources, when state official
steals from the public institution in which he or she is employed and from
resources he is supposed to administer on behalf of the public.12

3.2.5 Extortion:
Extortion is money and other resources extracted by the use of coercion,
violence or the threats to use force. Blackmailing and extortion are corrupt

11
Andvig Jens and Fjeldstad Odd-Helge, 2001, Corruption A Review of Contemporary Research, Chr. Michelsen
Institute, Bergen, Norway, p: 9
12
Amundsen Inge, 1999, Political Corruption: An Introduction to the Issues, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen,
Norway, p: 11

16
transactions where money is violently extracted by those who have the power to do
it, but where very little is returned to the clients. Sometime it‟s called as security
money.13 Whereas bribery involves the use of payments and positive incentives,
extortion relies on coercion to induce cooperation, such as threats of violence or
the exposure of sensitive information.14

3.3 What is Political or Grand Corruption?

Political Corruption is that influences the formulation of laws, regulations,
and policies. Political or grand corruption takes place at the highest levels of
political authority. It is when the politicians and political decision-makers (heads
of state, ministers and top officials), who are entitled to formulate, establish and
implement the laws in the name of the people, are themselves corrupt. grand
corruption we are dealing with highly placed individuals who exploit their
positions to extract large bribes from national and transnational corporations, who
appropriate significant pay-offs from contract scams, or who embezzle large sums
of money from the public treasury into private (often overseas) bank accounts.
Political corruption is furthermore when policy formulation and legislation are
tailored to benefit politicians and legislators.15
In a modern democracy politicians are not usually in a position to be able to
enact legislation purely for their own private benefit. But they may be able to wield
influence over the legislative process, and such influence makes them vulnerable to

13
Amundsen Inge, 1999, Political Corruption: An Introduction to the Issues, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen,
Norway, p: 13
14
United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC), 2004, United Nations Handbook on Practical Anti-Corruption
Measures for Prosecutors and Investigators, Vienna, p: 27
15
Andvig Jens and Fjeldstad Odd-Helge, 2001, Corruption A Review of Contemporary Research, Chr. Michelsen
Institute, Bergen, Norway. P: 10-11

17
corruption by those groups who will be affected. The corruption element obviously
arises when the politician „sells‟ this influence to an interested party16

Figure 2: Corrupt relationships in a democratic society

Source: (Arvind Jain, 2001, p.74)

3.4 What is Bureaucratic/Administrative or petty Corruption?

Bureaucratic corruption refers to corrupt acts of the appointed bureaucratic in
their dealings with their superiors or with the public. In its most common form,
usually known as petty corruption, the public may be required to bribe bureaucrats

16
Bowles Roger, 1999, 8500 Corruption, University of Bath, UK, p: 474

18
either to receive a service to which they are entitled or speed up a bureaucratic
procedure. In some cases bribe may even provide a service that is not supposed to
be available.17
“Petty corruption”, sometimes described as “administrative corruption”,
involves the exchange of very small amounts of money, and the granting of small
favours. These, however, can carry considerable public losses, as with the customs
officer who waves through a consignment of high-duty goods having been bribed a
mere $50 or so.18
Public sector bureaucracies often have considerable powers and areas of
discretion: they are often in a monopoly supply position and their employees are
often tempted to make strategic use of these advantages for their own ends. There
are ships which cannot enter certain ports until they supply customs officials with
amounts of whisky and cigarettes as spelled out on a schedule sent in advance of
their arrival. There are hospitals in some countries where patients cannot get drugs
without paying bribes to staff. Corruptions of Tax Officials & Police Corruption
are two particular areas of bureaucracy where allegations are often made.19

17
Jain Arvind, 2001, Corruption: A review, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, p: 75
18
United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC), 2004, United Nations Handbook on Practical Anti-
Corruption Measures for Prosecutors and Investigators, Vienna, p: 27
19
Bowles Roger, 1999, 8500 Corruption, University of Bath, UK p 471

19
 Chapter 4: Causes of Corruption in Bangladesh

The causes of corruption are always contextual, rooted in a country's policies,

bureaucratic, traditions, political development and social history. Corruption is a

phenomenon that takes place due to the presence of a number of factors. That

include rapid economic and social change, Strong kinship and ethnic ties, new

institutions, overlapping and Sometimes conflicting views about what is public

behavior, governmental monopoly over economic activities, political softness,

widespread poverty and socio-economic inequalities, ignorance, Lack of

Knowledge about individual entitlements, communal bonds, ambivalence towards

legitimacy of governmental organizations, asymmetric relationship favoring those

in control of state power, economic shortages in which public officials assume

extraordinary control over scarce good and service, greed, patronage and

systematic mal-administration most of the above mentioned factors contributing to

corruption can be categorized into Six fold typology. This typology contains

ideological, external, economic, political, Socio-cultural and technological

variables.209

Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most underprivileged countries of

the world. United Nations Human Development Index (2011) listed Bangladesh

209
Hossain Awal, Uddin Nizam, 2002, Combating Corruption in Bangladesh: Some Strategies, University of
Rajshahi, Bangladesh. pp 9-11.

20
ranking 146 out of 187 countries. More than 40% of the total population of the

country lives below the poverty line. Poor governance and dysfunctional

institutions have made the present situation worse. The pervasiveness and rampant

abuse of power has earned the country a dubious reputation as one of the most

corrupted country in the world.

But the question now lies on how corruption crept into our society? Since

1956 to till 1971 the people of Bangladesh had experienced tortures and inhuman

behavior from West Pakistan government. Naturally, after the independence, when

the nation founded its own first government, the citizens of the new nation would

have huge expectations from its first own-government. The newly formed

government had a huge challenge ahead to reform the nation, re-build destructed

infrastructure, and plan fresh national strategies & policies with its limited

financial resources and amateur administrations. During the liberation war in 1971,

millions of people of different religious backgrounds of Bangladesh took shelter in

neighboring country, India. After independence, those among who took shelter in

India returned back, while others preferred to stay back in India (mostly

Bangladeshi Hindus). Hundreds of vacated Lands and properties remained

unclaimed, aids and loans from foreign countries to the young nation for

reformation, both economically and infrastructure wise, gave an opportunity to the

powerful people of the nation to plunder right from the very beginning. The

21
uncertainty of expectations made people of the nation hungry for wealth and

power. Rich people started to crave for power. The word „‟power‟‟ since then,

associated itself with the abusive use for earning money illegally. Till date, it is

widely practiced, that rich people gets involved into politics, using the power of

money in a form of investment to earn more and multiply their wealth, they

manage to succeed and win the election and later becomes a powerful part of the

government or opposition. Once becoming a powerful body, the game of earning

money illegally starts a race competiting one with another. Government officials,

from top to bottom are corrupted, as when they seek for job, starting from fifth-

class clerk till high officials, they have to pay bribes to the corrupted personnel or

authority and in turn when they are confirmed to be in the post for the job, they try

to regain the money spend as a bribe to get the job plus more for themselves,

through unethical means. 210

In such a way, hundreds of other examples can be given that has given

the rise to the „‟culture of corruption‟‟ in Bangladesh and is growing unabated.

Recent survey of Transparency International of Bangladesh showed that the most

corrupted sector in the Bangladesh is the Public-Government sector among which

Police and Judiciary wings are the most popular ones.

210
Ahmed k. Siam, 2011, Economical Development of Bangladesh- Problems & Solutions, Arcada University Of
Applied Sciences, Helsinki, pp 51-53.

22
4.1 Factors behind the causation of corruption:

There have some direct and indirect factors that foster corruption in

Bangladesh. Direct factors are mostly related to government regulations and

authorities, taxation etc. either indirect factor are quality of bureaucracy, level of

public sector wages, penalty systems, transparency of rules &laws . Here I discuss

some causes of corruption in Bangladesh that I summarized after field work and

analyzed secondary data.

4.1.1 Corruption and Level of Economic Development:

Various statistical presentations demonstrate that the level of corruption

varies negatively with the level of economic prosperity. In other words, as a

country grows richer, the level of corruption decreases. This is a strong and

unambiguous relationship, as illustrated in table 1 below.

In this table, corruption has been computed from the latest Corruption

Perceptions Index (CPI 2012) of Transparency International, and income from the

Human Development Index (HDI 2011). The table clearly shows that there is a

strong relation between the level of income and corruption. The higher income a

country, the lower is the level of corruption. In this table four level of income low,

lower-middle, upper-middle and high are observed and it‟s clear that Bangladesh a

low income country has much corrupted than others. Sri-Lanka is lower middle

23
income country and less corrupted than Bangladesh, Malaysia belongs to upper

middle income country & less corrupted than previous two and lastly high income

country Denmark is almost free from corruption. So this clearly shows the level of

income and corruption has strong relationship around the world as well as in

Bangladesh.

According to my interview population 80% percent respondents are agreed

with this statement and other 20% mentioned others factors that creates corruption
in Bangladesh.

Question: Is there any relation with corruption and the level of economic
development of a country?

Table 2:

Corruption Income &Corruption Relationship

Income

24
4.1.2 Corruption and Level of Wages:

Over the year many observers have speculated that the wages paid to civil

servants are important in determining the degree of corruption. When officials are

unable to meet their minimal living costs from their salaries, corruption will arise.

But the relationship between salary levels and corruption is complex. Low salaries

can provide a powerful incentive for officials to become corrupt but they only form

part of the environment in which corruption flourishes.

In recent years several countries have attempted to reduce corruption in

sensitive‟s areas such as customs and tax administration by increasing the level of

wages. For example, the low corrupted Sweden, Denmark, Norway or others

Scandinavian countries high level administrators earned 12-15 times the salary of

an average industrial worker. But in Bangladesh perspective everyone should have

an idea about how much a government officer earned and the cost of living in

Dhaka or other cities. So sometimes it‟s hard to fulfill the requirement of family

for decent living within legal income and this motivates them to illegal income.

According to interview respondents 85% directly mentioned that level of

wages behind causes of corruption in Bangladesh. Another 15% meant it but along

with this some other factors are also be mentioned such as political and social

25
context. So it may clear the statement the higher the wage level, the lower is

corruption.

Question: What do you think low salaries are reason behind

corruption?

4.1.3 Corruption and Greed or Desire for an Unfair Advantage:

Corruption may not only arise for the low wage level. Some public officials

may be corrupt perhaps because of their own psychological or moral make –up or

because some of the bribes offered may be too large to resist. Many officials are

motivated to participate in corrupt behavior because of the inherently selfish desire

to have an unfair advantage over their peers. Through bribery, extortion,

embezzlement, nepotism and other means, corruption can help dishonest people

get ahead while the public pays the price. Through corruption, people seeking an

unfair advantage from public officials.

According to the interview data 65% respondents agree greed or desire for

an unfair advantage is behind this corruption in Bangladesh. 35% respondents

don‟t agree with greed or desire for an unfair advantage can foster corruption.

Question: What is the role of Greed in corruption?

26
4.1.4 Corruption and Level of Democracy:

Causes of corruption and level democracy obviously have a relation. The

Corruption Perception Index (CPI) consistently shows that the countries, which

appear to be the least corrupt, are all long established democracies and most

corrupt countries are not democracies or well established democracy. The

relationship partly depends on how firmly rooted democracy is in a particular

country. Many modern states claim to be democracies and appear to have some

democratic forms and processes but, for most, democracy is still fragile and poorly

institutionalized. One general assumption is that the level of corruption

corresponds negatively with democratization, for instance, the level of corruption

is decreasing with increasing levels of democracy or decreasing level of democracy

with increasing level of corruption. A perfect democracy is where there is open

political competition, respect for civil liberties, significant independent civic life

and the right to criticize, free access to information & independent media, rule of

law and openness in the decision-making processes.

Here I show two international organizations data to clarify this assumption,

„the level of corruption is decreasing with increasing levels of democracy‟.

According to Freedom House Index 2012; North Korea, Turkmenistan,

Uzbekistan, Somalia are not democratic country or not free country. Bangladesh is

partly free democratic country and Norway, Finland is free or iconic democratic

27
country. Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2012) of Transparency International

shows North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Somalia are the highest

corrupted country. Bangladesh is also corrupted (ranked 144 in CPI) but less than

these countries. Norway, Finland is less corrupt country in the world. So this data

clearly shows the level of democracy may affect corruption. Level of Bangladesh‟s

democracy shows effect on its CPI ranking.

According to the interview data 95% respondents agree with this

assumption the level of democracy may create corruption. 5% say level of

democracy along with other factor may create corruption such as bureaucracy.

Question: Is there any relation between level of democracy and

corruption?

4.1.5 Corruption and Lack of Transparency:

Transparency describes when there is free access by citizens to public

information. When the rules, procedures, and objectives of the government are not

available to the public, there is not budgetary and administrative oversight to

balance the power of government officials, transparency is lacking and corruption

can be bred. The lack of transparency in rules, laws, and processes creates a fertile

ground for corruption. Without oversight and transparency of budget and rules,

national resources may be plundered and power may be abused. Lack of

28
transparency creates opportunities for public officials to abuse their office for

private gain.

In Bangladesh transparency is not ensured in most governmental offices and

works. There is an act relating information „The Right to Information Act

2009‟describes, the right to information shall ensure that transparency and

accountability in public, autonomous and statutory organizations and in private

organizations run on government or foreign funding shall increase. Corruption

shall decrease and good governance shall be established. But in practical

experiences this act is hardly used. So it creates the risk of corruption in

Bangladesh.

According to interview data 80% respondents think lack of transparency is

responsible for creating corruption in Bangladesh.

Question: What do you think lack of Transparency may create

corruption?

4.1.6 Corruption and lack of Punitive Measures:

Humans are born with animal instinct but with the change of time humans

learned to control this instinct and become civilized. In a civilized society moral

conscience controlled all activity of human but sometime it may not work then

punitive measures may apply to control human behavior. Morality cannot always

29
protected crimes, so penalty or punitive measures plays an important role in

determining the probability that criminal or illegal acts would take place.

Corruption could be reduced by increasing the penalties on those who get

caught. Theoretically higher penalties may reduce the number of acts of corruption,

but they may lead to demands for higher bribes. In the real world relatively few

people are punished for acts of corruption. In few countries like ours there seems to

be a wide gap between the penalties specified in the laws and the penalties

imposed. When the legal agencies along with anti-corruption agencies do not

impose sanctions on parliamentarians and other government officials who have

violated their public duties there is a lack of punitive measure for corrupt behavior.

This is the case, for example it happens when judges who will impose the penalties

may be accessible to corruption or may have political biases or like Bangladesh

Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) have not yet independent over political

authority. When there are not punitive measures to assure transparency,

monitoring, and accountability through a working justice system, some people will

participate in corrupt behavior simply because they can get away with it.

According to interview respondents 90% agree with the lack of punitive

measures or penalties are reason behind the corruption in Bangladesh and anti
corruption commission is not working freely.
Question: What do you think Lack of punitive measures may
responsible for corruption?

30
4.1.7 Corruption and Lake of Free Press:

Corruption is secret and underground activities and the corrupt persons most

fear public exposure. Corruption is considered as the enemy of openness and

transparency. Where corrupt politicians & officials want to keep the public in the

dark, a free press can shed light and help inform and empower the public. Where

the press is owned or controlled by the state, it will report only information which

is acceptable to the state. Bangladesh is perfect example of this statement, because

of media & newspaper general people can able to know our level of corruption and

make protest against corruption & corrupt persons either corruption may cross the

limit of tolerance.

A free press offers a vital way of challenging the powerful to account for

their actions. It gives poor people a voice, a way of articulating their concerns; a

free press is an essential prerequisite for ensuring that government is open and

responsive. But the press may be handicapped sometimes.

According to interview data 45% respondents think Bangladesh press &

media can do much better in combating corruption, indirectly they meant failure to

protest corruption and that encourages corruption. Other 55% respondents think

Bangladesh press &media done good job either level of corruption may go beyond.

Question: Is there any relation between Role of press and corruption?

31
4.1.8 Corruption and Role of International Trade:

International trade is a major source of large-scale corruption in developing

countries. The Bribe Payers Index (BPI) clearly shows that a large number of

companies from major exporting countries are very likely to offer bribes to gain or

retain business in developing countries like ours. International trade is often cited

as an important contributor to any countries economic growth and development.

World Bank, IMF, WTO suggest developing and emerging market economies to

liberalize their policies on international trade. If tariff barriers are high, foreign

exporters hoping to penetrate new markets may use bribery to gain special

exemptions or concessions from governments. Theoretically, free trade increases

efficiency and investment but corruption thrives on inefficiency. Increased trade

for the corrupt politician means more opportunities for bribes.

International trade creates a lot of opportunities as well as risk to a country

because it involves foreign investment, foreign money and misuse of that may

cause corruption in any country. International trade sometimes related to big scale

development project like natural resources finding, mining etc. In international

trade national interest must give highest priority. If anyone regularly read

newspaper he/she must understand how Bangladesh economy is depend on this. In

Bangladesh experience every year government purchase and export of billions

dollars goods but there have some political instability that creates corruption and

32
losses the profit of country as international trade considered as one of the source of

grand corruption in Bangladesh.

According to interview respondents 70% of them agree with international

trade can create corruption in high level policymaking & politicians in Bangladesh.

Other 30% respondents said there may be a relation between international trade

and corruption. It indicates they don‟t directly agree with this statement.

Question: What is the role of international trade in creating

corruption?

4.1.9 Corruption and Role of International Corporations:

International corporations or MNCs are the supply side of grand corruption.

If they did not offer bribes to gain contracts, concessions and exemptions, there

would be a dramatic fall in grand corruption. Grand corruption particularly arises

from mining and oil/gas concessions, construction projects, and sales of military

equipment to rising economy states.

International corporations trying to enhance their profitability by seek new

markets and new opportunities. Competition with other international corporation‟s

means there is always a search for competitive advantage and corruption is often

seen as an important and necessary method of enhancing or securing profits. Large

33
numbers of multinational corporations from the richest nations are pursuing a

criminal course to win contracts in the leading emerging market economies. In

their defense, international corporations argue that they are more often the victims

of extortion than the initiators of bribes and business reality suggests that, if they

refuse to pay a bribe, there will always be another corporation ready to do so. In

Bangladesh numbers of is MNCs working here especially in natural resource sector

some of them accused with corruption and still now this trend or corruption is

going.

According to interview respondents 70% of them agree with international

corporations or MNCs are the main supply side of grand corruption in Bangladesh.

Other 30% respondents directly refuse this statement as behind factor of corruption

in Bangladesh.

Question: What is the role of International Corporation in

corruption?

4.1.10 Corruption and Role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):

As like every developing country, Bangladesh needs FDI for its ongoing

development process. It is a potent weapon for developing the economy and

achieving the country‟s socio-economic objectives. In practice, FDI has been a

mixed blessing. It can deliver some benefits but it can also undermine local

34
businesses and financial institutions. In some cases, foreign investors use

illegitimate means to argue governments to allow them to invest. Foreign

companies seek special privileges, which are particular to them in the form of

exemptions from tariffs and taxation policies. They may also bribe governments to

exclude foreign investment from other countries and companies. Corrupt

governments make agreements with foreign firms, which allow the firms to do

business on very favorable terms, often to the economic disadvantage of the local

population. Foreign direct investment often involves contracts in which the foreign

investor gains the profits and the government bears the risk. FDI sometimes comes

at the high price of undermining democratic processes. This is particularly true for

FDI in minerals, oil, coal, gas and other natural resources where foreign investors

offer huge bribes to obtain the concessions at below market prices.

According to interview data 40% respondents think foreign direct

investment are responsible for corruption as if they invest through illegal way to

financial gain. And 60% respondents think it‟s not responsible for corruption and it

has a great role to countries economy and development. Here I present a figure that

contains FDI flow 2001 to 2010.

Question: What is the role of forcing Direst Investment (FDI) in

corruption?

35
 Table 3: Recent Trend in FDI Inflow in Bangladesh. (US$ Millions)

Source: Enterprise Survey, Bangladesh Bank (July-Dec10, Estimated)

4.1.11 Corruption and Opportunity to Wash Black Money Clean:

Bangladesh is one most corrupt country of the world so black money

problem is also presents in here. In compare with Bangladeshi population there

nearly only 1 million people paid tax or have TIN registration. Black money is that

money earned from illegal activity or underground economic activity and as such

not taxed. Bribery, corruption, smuggling, manipulations in import are generating

the black money. Black money makes no positive contribution to the economy. It

doesn‟t generate employment and production. On the other hand it has severe

impact on inflation that affects the poor. The unlimited expenditure of black money

also leads to increase commodity prices. The government must take tough steps to

36
stop but government gives chance to whitening black money without or in

minimum 10% tax. These must hurt honest tax payers who paid full tax. That

policy encourages others to engage in illegal earning and after that invest when

government give opportunities in giving very low amount tax to clear black

money.

According to interview respondents 85% agreed with giving opportunities

to whitening black money is encouraging the rate of corruption in Bangladesh.

Other 15% mentioned illegal banking, tax avoidance, poor anti corruption law is

also involved with it.

Question: Is there any relation between corruption and giving the

opportunity it wash Black money clean?

4.1.12 Corruption and Status of Government Institutions:

The quality of the government institutions may be the factor behind

corruption. If government agencies are free from political authority they must work

properly. Corruption sometimes depends on administrative or bureaucratic freedom

of a country. If government institutions like judiciary, legislature, civil services,

law enforcement institutions, taxation system, customs, health care, education can

operate under well recognized law and procedures there must be peace in

Bangladesh not corruption, but it‟s hard to maintain good standard because

37
political instability or corrupt politician are always force bureaucracy to be

corrupted. If we want corruption free peaceful state, Politian‟s and bureaucrats

both have to be transparent and responsible to state. But in our country upper

mentioned each institution are not transparent and more or less corrupted, further

most of our politician are also corrupted so as a unit Bangladesh worldly known as

corrupted state.

According to interview question 90% respondents thinks Bangladeshi

governmental institutions do not operate under transparency and rule of law. They

mentioned police, legislature, taxation & customs are most corrupt institutions of

Bangladesh. Other 10% thinks judiciary, education, health care, and civil services

are less corrupted than previous institutions.

Question: Do you think Government Institutions like judiciary,

legislature, civil services, law enforcement institutions, taxation

system, customs, Health care, Education operate Under well

recognized rule and procedures ?

38
 Chapter 5: Impacts of corruption on Bangladesh’s Contemporary

Development:

Among all the issues currently affected Bangladesh, corruption is the most talked

and contentious issue of them because the impact of corruption on development is

often disastrous. Corruption is considered as one of the greatest obstacles to any

countries growth & development. Corruption hinders proper allocation of

resources, undermining the legitimacy of the government and weakening their

structures as well as the performance, reducing productivity, worsening poverty,

marginalizing the poor, creating social unrest. In every country poor‟s are the

worst victim and the rich, powerful peoples are most beneficiary of corruption. In

Bangladesh most corruption affected public institutions are police, local

government, land departments, education, health, taxation, revenue, financial

institutions, transport, energy, forestry & environment.

In Bangladesh perspective this aspect may be broadly categorized as

economic, political, social, and environmental impacts of corruption. Among them

political and economical impacts has more significance than others.

5.1 Economic impact:

The economic effects of corruption are generally very difficult to quantify due

to the nature of corruption and its measurement but not impossible. Corruption has

a negative, deleterious and divesting influence on investment and economic

39
growth. The economic effects of corruption can be categorized as minor and major

but they both have serious impact on the individual community or country.

Corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. Large scale corruption hurts

the economy and impoverishes entire population.

In Bangladesh here approximately 40% of population lives less than a bellow

poverty line. Corruption is keeping the Bangladesh economy from improving.

Corruption creates underground economy; a recent TI research shows corruption

costs almost 2% of national economy of Bangladesh.

Corruption has impact on lowering investment, both foreign and domestic. It

does so because potential investors perceive it as an unwarranted and pernicious

tax. It raises the cost of investing without providing any guarantee of producing the

required results. Corruption therefore increases the uncertainty and risk attached to

investment as well as reducing the incentive for entrepreneurs. Hall-Mark group of

Bangladesh recently frauds approximately Tk.2.668 crores from Sonali Bank,

Ruposhi Bangla Branch, They obtained this amount of loan by submitting fake

documents and corruption. These types of fraudulent affect both domestic and

foreign investment because this hampers fair business environment. Corruption

lowering investment as a consequences it reduces the rate of production and

growth.

40
 Corruption can also influence the willingness of the donor community to

provide aid and development assistance. High levels of corruption can cause

donors to suspend, reduce or withdraw development assistance. For current

example world bank withdraw their promised $1.2 billion credit by claiming that a

high level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC

lavalin executives, and private individuals in connection with this project.

There is an adverse effect of corruption in Foreign Direct Investment in

Bangladesh. In previous part I show a chart from Bangladesh Bank that indicates

the recent trend of FDI flow. It clearly shows highest Foreign Direct Investment

took place in year 2008-09 when military supported in-term caretaker government

is in power, but after elected democratic government took control of Bangladesh

Foreign Direct Investment in 2009-10 reduces two-third than previous fiscal year.

What is behind factor that reduces Foreign Direct Investment? According to my

observation the tendency of corruption among politician and administrative

officials are the reason behind this FDI reduction in Bangladesh.

Power and Energy sector corruption costs Bangladesh a huge amount of

money every year. In Bangladesh history Canadian Resource Company Niko

Resources Ltd. corruption was the most famous corruption in energy sector. Niko

Bangladesh charged with corruption that they give bribe to energy minister Akm

Mosharraf Hossain to use his influence to ensure Niko Resources was able to get a

41
gas purchase and sales agreement from the Bangladesh government, as well

reducing the compensation claims against the company for tengratila gas field

blow-out. Government committees formed after the incident mentioned the loss

worth Tk. 746 crore.

Electricity is the major source of the power for country‟s most of the

economic activities. Another recent confusing corruption issue in Bangladesh

energy sector is Quick rental electric plant. Government in collaboration with

power companies has established Quick rental power plant in order to solve the

electricity deficit problem quickly but it failed to solve the problem and create

burden over national economy, peoples have been charged extra bills in the name

of cost covering or slashing the government subsidy. News published on

bdnews24.com on 31 January 2013 that the government will count more than Tk.

63bilionin losses for purchasing electricity through rental and quick rental projects

during the 2012-13 fiscal year, but the question is who are the getting benefited?

Obviously government officials and politicians who have collusion with the

corporate and who is suffering? The general tax paying people. Government took

this policy avoiding the cheapest sources of electricity.

Corruption creates income inequality in Bangladesh corrupted politicians and

government officers earned illegally more than legally so they spent money

without any calculation but an honest government official, privet sector worker or

42
lower government employs have to calculate twice before spending money, This

could be easily verified by cheek out the salary and standard of living variations.

Corruption may behind to creation inflation and often responsible for increased

costs of goods and services.

Due to corruption in tax administration and customs Bangladesh every year

lost huge amount of tax revenue. If the tax is collected through legal way the tax

revenue may become a huge contributor to national budget.

5.2 Political impacts:

Corruption in Bangladesh is a hot political and controversial issue and political

parties often charge each other with being corrupted. In our country corruption in

politics firstly, create some adverse effects on democracy and the rule of law.

These two are core structure of any country so if they are affected by corruption

they may also affect others. In a democratic system public institutions and officers

may lose their legitimacy when they misuse their power for private gain and it is

quite common on Bangladesh. There is no accountability and transparency to

people, politicians don‟t concern people and don‟t look at public interest, and they

do whatever is beneficiary to them.

For example, a four page report published by Daily Prothom-Alo in 2008

(local Bengali daily) about more than thousands of unnecessary and unfinished

small & medium bridges in the country that never got completed in several years.

43
Some of them stand in middle of nowhere, with no road or canal in the vicinity!

Preposterously, there are two bridges built within yards of one another. This

thousands bridges constructed in both democratic regime of AL & BNP. Most of

cases once 20% to 40% work has been completed the builders took their full bills

from ministry. This type of activity has mostly permitted by local MP, Engineers

and related officials because they already have their commission. But the ultimate

sufferers of this wastage are the country‟s economy and local tax paying people.

Here corruption creates the mentality of ill political competition. Politicians

always want to have the power so they engage fight with opposition party. In

Bangladesh political activities sustained by money and power but it must be

through ideology and merit.

In Bangladesh corruption has several impacts in Political category such as

creating political instability, reducing fair political competition, reducing the

transparency of political decision making, distorting political development,

sustaining political activity based on clientelism and money, reducing

accountability & transparency to state & people, creating low level of democratic

culture, etc. TI rated Bangladesh the most corrupt nation for 5 consecutive years

from 2001, but it starting to change in 2008 after military backed in-term

government took tough anti-corruption steps. But TI latest research shows

widespread corruption remains and getting worse again after democratic

44
government established again. From this anyone can able to understand there is a

strong relationship between Politics and corruption in Bangladesh as well as

effects. Lower democratic culture and affection to money and power, ill morality

leads Bangladeshi politician & administrators towards corruption.

5.3 Social impacts:

In social sphere corruption discourage people to work together for the

common good, corruption is secret process and only brings individual pleasure. In

our country demanding and paying bribe become tradition no one bother to

demand bribe it seems quite rightful to them and who paid bribe it seems to them

the fastest way to done the work, whether it is right or wrong it‟s not considerable.

Corruption creates education and health-care sector vulnerable. Corruption also

create social inequality & wide spare gap between rich and poor because

corruption make rich people more rich and make poor more poor. Corruption may

destroy peaceful social structure and violets culture of peace. Riches are the main

beneficiary and the poor‟s people are major loser by corruption. Civil-strive may

also resulted by corruption. Corruption affects investment and low investment

result low production and low production increased poverty this is continuous in

society by circle. Corruption creates jealousy and hatred among people in society,

corrupt people are hatred by normal people but due to powerlessness they can‟t do

45
anything against corrupt persons. Corruption sometimes creates social insecurity to

the common people of the country.

5.4 environmental Impact:

Bangladesh is situated in disaster prone region and already proved vulnerable to

environmental degradation and corruption in this sector gradually increasing risk of

being vulnerable. In Bangladesh Industrial pollution is the reason for destruction of

the river water, most of industry has direct drainage system with river but every

industry should have an individual industrial waste management system. Industrial

pollution and biodiversity laws are not fully implemented in our country and privet

companies took this advantage sometimes they also bribed environmental inspectors.

Forests are another important element of environment. Mangrove forest Sundarbans,

Chittagong hill tracts districts are the only source of large forest in Bangladesh.

Forests are protector to humans such as Sundarbans protect coastal areas as a bio-

shield from cyclones, high tidal surges, coastal erosion but this is being weakened by

illegal forest clearance and this activities are happening eyes before the local forest

department. Osman Gani former chief conservator of forests was sentenced to 12

years in prison for amassing wealth illegally and smuggling over 1 million cubic feet

of logs and lumbers worth over BTD 1200 million from the reserve forest in

Rangamati. These are the only few example of corruption related to environment

destruction cases in Bangladesh.

46
 Chapter 6: Concluding Remarks:

This study started with the particular aims at finding the causes of corruption and
its negative impacts on Bangladesh‟s recent development. After starting this study
I found some core issues that directly create corruption and others that help the
tendency to do corruption. Low wages, low level of democratic practice, lack of
punitive measures, weak anti corruption law and commission, ill morality are
directly responsible for creating corruption. Every criminal activity has an
explanation as so corruption also have some. Corruption results from the presence
of a number of factors. Corruption is rooted in fundamental economic, political and
institutional weaknesses and shortcomings of a country. Corruption is most
prevalent where there are different forms of institutional weaknesses, such as
political instability, bureaucratic red tape, and weak legislative and judicial
systems. In recent years corruption is not viewed from moral and functional angles
only. Corruption is a complex multi-faceted social phenomenon with innumerable
manifestations. There are many forms of corruption. To understand the dynamics
of so many types of corruption different attempts have been made.
Although this study was not started with the aim of finding anti corruption
measures because combating corruption is not easy task in Bangladesh but here I
feel the importance to express my some recommendations regarding anti
corruption strategies in Bangladesh. If we want really changed corruption free
country we have to start work with changing the basic structure and culture of our
society. Firstly democratic reform means we have to change our conflicting
political culture. Secondly if we achieve sustain democracy through this economic
development may be assured. Thirdly the role of civil society is important to
combat corruption, a strong civil society with access to information and a mandate
to oversee the state is pre-condition to corruption Free State. And fourthly the

47
presence of rule of law in society is another deterrent factor. All the basic
institution of good governance needs to be strengthened. At the head of this list is
the judiciary, it must be independent and the capacity and integrity of enforcement
must be enhanced. Government needs to create a solid set of preventive tools;
Codes of Conduct and strong Anti Corruption Commission to ensure that the
corruption is in under control.
Only state measures will not able to prevent corruption in Bangladesh, normal
people should cooperate with anti corruption movement from their standpoint. In
this way family can play a great role to grow consciousness among family
members about corruption and discourage them to do corrupt activities. Mass
education may have positive effect on combating corruption. Furthermore political
reform, political accountability and transparency must be ensured. A strict &
strong punitive law may be created to punish corrupted politicians or officials.
From the upper discussion it is clear that undertaking both economic and political
reforms by reducing institutional weaknesses offers the best hope to overcome
corruption. Corruption will not fully disappear because of reforms. But reforms
will bring it under control and minimize its adverse consequences. Moreover
strong moral views may play a significant role to deter humans to engage in
corruption.

48
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