Corruption in power sector must be made public in people’s interest

Electricity is one of the sectors in which massive corruption has taken place in the country during the last fifteen years and a half rule of fascist Sheikh Hasina’s government.

Corruption has mainly occurred through the use of special laws in the name of developing the power sector.

According to a newspaper report, an expert committee investigating corruption in this sector has found evidence of the involvement of businessmen, bureaucrats and the top echelons of the past corrupt government.

Meanwhile, the expert committee has submitted its interim report to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. The question was raised whether the report would be made public.

The question of not releasing the interim report has also been raised, as it would hinder the court writ and the investigation activities of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

But now there is a demand to make the report public, even if it is not complete.

It is important to clarify how the corruption took place, where the money went, and who took the huge sum.

Even the unethical activities that took place in the contract should be also revealed so that the corruption can be exposed.

Meanwhile, the interim government has already paid a large part of the liabilities in the sector.

Stakeholders have complained that the power sector is still operating within the previous system.

Although a special law has been enacted for the development of the power sector, this law has been exploited to embezzle money in an organized manner.

This law has also harmed the Bangladesh Power Development Board, the single buyer of electricity.

The most advantageous position of this law was that the legality of anything done in this sector under this law cannot be challenged in court.

However, the law was repealed in November last year as part of the power and energy sector reforms after the interim government took office.

The government also formed a committee to review contracts signed under the law.

It found a large-scale corruption in the name of purchase agreements, in which private power plant owners, bureaucrats, and politicians colluded.

Apart from this, evidence of irregularities has also been found in the contract signed with the power plant of India’s Adani Group.

Overall, Bangladesh has become one of the most backward countries in terms of efficiency in the power sector in the whole of Asia.

To overcome this situation, it is imperative to make the sector corruption-free. Therefore, it is necessary to uncover all the facts of corruption and take crucial steps.