Staff Reporter :
The interim government has issued a directive requiring all public servants to submit their wealth statements.
The order was communicated on Sunday through a notice signed by Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Md. Mokhlesur Rahman.
A senior official from the Ministry of Public Administration who preferred to remain anonymous confirmed the decision, stating, “All government employees will now be required to submit asset declarations.
The specific process and timeline for submission will be finalised soon after discussions with the relevant authorities.”
According to existing laws, every public servant is required to declare their movable and immovable assets when they enter service.
There is also a provision to update these declarations every five years, detailing any increase or decrease in assets, which must be submitted to the government through the appointing authority.
While these rules are part of the official code of conduct aimed at preventing corruption and ensuring accountability among public servants, in practice, they are seldom followed.
Previous directives from the Ministry of Public Administration on this matter have seen little progress.
Concerns about corruption within a segment of the public service have prompted recommendations for greater accountability.
Despite discussions on requiring all public servants to submit their asset declarations to the government, implementation has been inconsistent.
There were also discussions about whether it would suffice to submit a copy of the asset details from the annual income tax returns filed with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) rather than submitting a separate asset declaration every five years.
The Ministry of Public Administration even considered amending the existing regulations to facilitate this process.
In light of these ongoing concerns, the interim government has now decided that all public servants must submit their asset declarations.
Earlier, on August 14, the legal adviser to the interim government announced in a press conference that, after consulting with the Supreme Court, all judicial officers and their family members were instructed to submit detailed accounts of their movable and immovable assets, both domestic and foreign, within 10 working days.