Staff Reporter :
The government has announced that advisers and officials of equivalent rank, along with their spouses, must submit their income and asset statements within 15 working days of the tax return submission deadline.
This requirement was detailed in a gazette notification on Tuesday, under the “Policy on Disclosure of Statement of Income and Assets of Interim Government Advisers and Persons of Equivalent Rank, 2024.”
According to the notice, these officials are required to submit the statements to the Chief Adviser through the Cabinet Division.
If their spouses have independent income sources, their income and asset statements must also be filed with the Chief Adviser.
The Chief Adviser retains the discretion to publish the statements as deemed appropriate.
Additionally, the government has instructed all officials and employees to submit their wealth statements by November 30 to their respective ministries and departments.
This will be an annual requirement, with wealth reports to be submitted by December 31 each year.
This directive follows the Government Servants (Conduct) Rule, 1979 (amended in 2002), which mandates that all government employees declare their movable and immovable assets when they join the service and update these declarations every five years.
Despite the rule’s intent to curb corruption and promote accountability, its enforcement has been lacking.
The Ministry of Public Administration has issued reminders over the years, but little progress was made in implementing the rule effectively.
Employees in Grade 9 and above must submit their asset statements to the secretary of their respective ministries or divisions, while those in Grades 10 to 20 must submit theirs to their appointing authorities.
There are currently around 1.5 million government employees in Bangladesh.