Govt employees to face legal action if not declare assets

Within the next 15 days, the government will prepare a format using which the public sector employees will have to submit their wealth statements. The authorities will take legal actions against any government employee who will not give an account of their assets, said sources.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Mokhlesur Rahman told journalists at the secretariat on Monday that the government employees will have to submit their wealth statements once every year either on 1 January or on 1 July, as per a decision taken on Sunday.

The public administration senior secretary said a five-member committee has been convened by the secretary of the Anti-Corruption Commission to determine where and how to submit the wealth statements.

The committee has one representative each from the National Board of Revenue, Finance Division, and Comptroller and Auditor General. The additional secretary of the Discipline and Investigation Wing of the Ministry of Public Administration will be the member secretary of this committee.

The public administration secretary said, “Now there are five types of forms to give an account of properties. The committee will prepare a format, so that people do not have to ask questions or have problems understanding. The committee will prepare a format within the next seven days.

“The form will be in Bengali. It will be in one page, including sections for movable properties, immovable properties and other properties. Then we will tell all the ministries and departments to submit the wealth statements to a specific person. Basically, it will be functional within the next 15 days. During this time we will deliver the forms to the offices. We will then tell them the date by which the accounts have to be submitted.”

He also said, “We will definitely tell them what will happen if the asset account is not submitted, what will be the penalty, and how action will be taken against someone who fails to declare their assets. To put it simply, if one does not submit their wealth statement, they will face the music.

“So far you have heard a lot of things like zero tolerance and other bullshit. It is useless for me to hear all this. I do not even want to say it. We have two agendas for public interest – one is the state and the other is the people. We will not hesitate to do whatever we have to do. We do not have to do any power research. We will work according to the rules, we will work with courage.”

Stating that there are 15 lakh government employees in the country, the secretary said, “Earlier we thought that only the officials who pay taxes should be accounted for. However, it has been seen that there are reports like a fourth class employee, peon or driver has Tk400 crore or Tk9 crore. That is why we have started the work, so that they can file the asset statement in a modern and updated way.”

The public administration secretary said all government employees have to give an account of their assets, even if they have zero assets. “You should be a little more careful while submitting the assets statement. You tell me if it is not the first step to preventing corruption? It is a message. Officials will not only have to submit information on bank accounts, but also information including where they have land, and saving certificates. We think corruption will be reduced by accounting for assets.”

Asked whether the advisers of the interim government should give an account of their assets, the public administration secretary said, “From A to Z – everyone has to give a wealth statement. Let it start with me. I have nothing but a car on loans. All those who draw government salaries must be accounted for.”

Stating that the work of preparing a fit list for deputy commissioners (DCs) is going on, the secretary said new DCs will be appointed within a week from the places (25 districts) where the DCs have been withdrawn.