ACCOMMODATION FOR GOVT OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES, No bribes, no allotment

Corruption, nepotism and lobbying rule the allocation of housing and flats for public servants without following the set rules and priority for providing such accommodation in Dhaka city. The authorities in the housing and public works ministry admitted they were helpless saying that shortage of accommodation facilities for public servants in the capital contributed to such gross malpractice and corruption. Former bureaucrats and civil society actors observed that such malpractice would encourage public servants to indulge in corruption. The housing secretary, Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah, said that no rules could be followed due to a huge demand against a very limited facility. ‘For an estimated 150,000 officials and employees there are only 13,000 quarters in Dhaka, which is eight per cent of the demand.’ ‘It’s really difficult to follow the guidelines due to extreme crisis,’ the secretary said, adding, ‘Officials having strong lobbying power are getting priority in allotment.’ The secretary said that in the last three months in his office, he was trying to reduce the level of corruption in the directorate of government accommodations under the ministry.

Housing facilities have not been developed in the capital in keeping with the growing number of government officials and employees over the years, officials of the directorate of government accommodations said. They said that the crisis had compounded as many retired officials were still occupying the flats receiving stay orders from the High Court and many officials posted outside the capital had kept possession of flats in Dhaka for use by their dependents. The directorate gives allotment of 5,600 quarters to class-one and above ranked government officials serving in transferable posts while different ministries, divisions and directorates give allotment of around 7,000 flats to the employees against the quotas allocated to the ministries and agencies concerned. Since different ministries and directorates keep the lists of eligible subordinate employees in the respective offices for allotment, the level of corruption is less in such cases, said sources. But the level of corruption is high in case of allotment of flats for the class-one or above ranked officials, whose allotment is centrally maintained by the directorate.

The directorate does not keep records of the pending applications, rather trash the applications after giving allotments for which it cannot give figures of the total number of applications pending or rejected. According to Bangladesh Allocation Rules, the allotment should be provided based on seniority in terms of position and then age. Depending on the type and area of flats in the capital, the accommodation seekers need to pay between Tk 50,000 and Tk 200,000 in bribe to the officials of the directorate, sources said. Some aggrieved officials filed cases with the High Court and lodged complaints with the Anti-Corruption Commission against the corrupt officials of the directorate, but refused to talk with press anticipating they would never get any flat in future for complaining to media against officials of the directora

te. According the directorate sources, 236 cases have been filed in different courts against officials of the accommodation directorate. Some victims said that they did not get possession of quarters even after obtaining allotment letters as some corrupt officials of the directorate cancelled those and handed over the accommodation to others through underhand dealings. ‘For unknown reasons, the directorate cancelled the allotment letter issued to me and gave it to somebody else,’ said a victim, whose allotment was cancelled three times recently. The victims alleged that officials like deputy director Rashed Ahmed Sadi, deputy director Zillur Rahman, assistant director Masudul Alam and office assistant GM Babar Ali controlled a racket in the directorate that was involved in such corruption. Deputy director Rashed Ahmed Sadi said he is no longer in charge of allotting flats, so no question of his doing corruption arises. He also claimed that the Anti- Corruption Commission had given him a ‘clean certificate’ four times.

Assistant director Masudul Alam said, ‘People blame me without knowing the fact that I’m just a signatory official of the allotment orders.’ Zillur and Babar also denied the allegations and said they issued allotment letters being ordered by the senior officials of the directorate. Director of the directorate of government accommodations Mohammad Ashraful Islam said, ‘As many eligible applicants do not get flats, they may complain of corruption… but they should come up with specific allegations.’ Executive director of Transparency International, Bangladesh Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that ‘helplessness’ and ‘crisis’ could never be an excuse for corruption. ‘Such malpractice would frustrate honest officials and encourage them to indulge in corruption,’ Iftekharuzzaman said. Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said, ‘Transparency must be ensured in allotting accommodation to public servants.’

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