Successive governments in Bangladesh have tended to set up special commissions and committees to indicate that special issues and needs from the perspective of the public interest or national interest would be explored by these bodies and the recommendations made by them would be implemented to promote such interests. Thus, many committees were formed during the last fifty years of the country’s existence and these bodies produced an equal number of reports, including the vital recommendations.
If these reports were all promptly studied by and the suggestions in them carried out earnestly, then much positive qualitative changes in governance could be experienced. But it is ironical that governments help in the creation of such commissions and committees with much fanfare, employ considerable manpower and resources for their functioning, but never use the findings of the committees and commissions for which these are created in the first place.
The same has been the fate of the Public Expenditure Review Commission (PERC) which started its functioning with much interest and publicity some years ago . It completed its work in 2003 and submitted the report along with its recommendations to the government. It made valuable recommendations such as downsizing of the Cabinet, merger of different government owned corporations and closure of redundant governmental organisations. But it appears that PERC’s reports– like many others before it– is destined to be shelved with no good use coming from them.
It should be obvious why ignoring the PERC report would be particularly disappointing in the backdrop of the justified demand being voiced by the donors and concerned quarters in the country that public resources must be well utilised to maximise public benefits. Specially, this need became paramount with Bangladesh acquiring the scandalous distinction for three consecutive years as the most corrupt country of the world in the assessment of the Berlin based Transparency International (TI). TI’s study of Bangladesh had put into sharp focus the pervasive corruption or waste or misappropriation of public resources .
Getting rid of such corruption or better utilisation of public resources could lead to huge saving of precious resources, utilisation of saved resources in areas of very pressing need and could also set the stage for the GDP to rise by several percentage points with good effects on poverty alleviation. For these reasons and more, it is so very important not to treat PERC like any other commission with a simple objective but to act upon its findings with urgency and sincerity. Good governance has been identified as the country’s problem number one and the PERC’s recommendations, through implementation, can go a long way in improving governance.
Thus, it is imperative to take actions from the highest level of the government to save the PERC’s report from the activities of vested interest groups and pave the ground for the fastest carrying out of the suggestions that have been made in it. The first task in that order would be to call a meeting of the Cabinet to consider the reports and take decisions to implement their recommendations.