Binoy Chandra Das, a resident of Palash Upazila in Narsingdi, came to the head office of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) last week to submit a complaint against a land official.
The poor farmer roamed around the Commission a whole day but failed to submit his complaint to the ACC as his ‘complaint letter’ was not written in a prescribed form.
“I earlier placed my complaint against an assistant commissioner (land) at a public hearing held in Narsingdi. But I haven’t get justice yet…the assistant commissioner has given my land to a person through a mutation although a case regarding the disputed land is still under trial,” he said.
Binoy said when he wanted to submit an allegation in this regard, ACC officials advised him to submit a well-written application describing all facts with necessary documents.
“I cannot read or write. How can I rewrite my application? That’s why I must return home in Narsingdi without submission of my complaint,” he told UNB in a gloomy face in front of the ACC head office last week.
Like Binoy, many people come to the ACC head office everyday and return with despair to their respective homes without placing their complaints as they do not know how write complaint letters.
But, the litigants, who cannot read or write, will soon be able to submit their allegations against graft suspects through calling from their mobile phones since the national anti-graft agency is set to launch a hotline to record their complaints.
A plaintiff can submit his or her complaint dialing 106 from any mobile phone operator of the country or telephone free of cost, ACC system analyst (director) Rajib Hasan told UNB.
The hotline is expected to be launched by Finance Minister AMA Muhith on July 27, 2017.
Rajib said the Commission has already set up a Complaint Centre, commonly known as call centre, installing necessary equipment to receive calls from complainants. The centre is now operational on experimental basis.
To receive phone calls from the complainants, he said, four ACC officials will work in each four shifts a day.
About the hotline, ACC chairman Iqbal Mahmood said after launching of the hotline, people can directly make phone calls to it from all phone operators without any charge.
“As common people will be able to submit their complaints through phone calls, public servants responsible to provide services to them will be more careful. They will not dare to get involved in corruption,” he added.
Rajib Hasan said the ACC will install billboards in all major cities and will distribute leaflets and stickers across the country to encourage people to submit their allegations against graft suspects through calling from their phones.
Earlier in January this year, the ACC got approval with a number( 106) from THE Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) to launch a hotline.