TIB: 40% didn’t get TCB family cards due to graft

As many as 39.5 per cent of the people eligible for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh’s (TCB) family cards were deprived of the facility due to corruption and irregularities, a survey by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has found.

Those who did not get the cards were part of the government’s Tk 2,500 cash assistance programme during the coronavirus pandemic, the survey said.

The findings of the survey were unveiled in a webinar on Thursday.

The survey was conducted between April 18 and 26 among 1,047 participants in 35 districts.

As many as 51.3 per cent of the participants felt that a significant number of solvent and politically influential persons as well as their relatives were included in the list by excluding the eligible poor.

According to the survey, 80.4 per cent of the families did not get family cards due to various irregularities and corruption. Besides, 5.5 per cent voluntarily refused to take cards and 14.1 per cent did not know why they were excluded.

In March-April, the government undertook a programme to supply commodities to one crore low-income families at affordable prices by providing TCB family cards.

In the survey, 76.1 per cent of the respondents felt solvent people had been included in the list. Apart from this, 65 per cent of the respondents felt local public representatives’ relatives had been included in the list while 44.5 per cent felt local influential people or political figures had been included.

The families not receiving cards reported a lack of lobbying and political considerations, inability to pay bribes, the issuance of multiple cards to the same family, and distributing cards among ineligible people as some of the reasons behind their exclusion.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said 25-30 per cent of the low-income people had received the benefits.

“However, due to political pressure, management crisis, irregularities, and corruption, 39.5 per cent were deprived. Women were relatively more deprived,” he explained.

He also said those who were not supposed to get the benefits eventually received those because of political influence while many were deceived. “The same family received multiple cards, and there was no mechanism to address the complaints.”

Iftekharuzzaman said, “If such a programme is launched in the future, steps should be taken to stop the interference of local influential people.”

According to the survey, 89.9 per cent of the beneficiaries who were victims of irregularities and corruption in the distribution of cards and purchase of products did not or could not complain.

Also, 34.3 per cent of them did not complain fearing trouble, harassment, or negative situations. 31.5 per cent did not complain because they did not know how while 27.4 per cent did not think it was necessary to complain.