Rajuk anomalies
In RAJUK,
there are corrupt practices in land use clearance, building permission and other processes, which are obstructing the planned development of the city
According to a recent report published in a Bangla daily the design business indulged in by a section of corrupt Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha (RAJUK) officials and staff members has become an open secret. These officials have formed a syndicate in connivance with a group of brokers to carry forward their nefarious activities. Members of this unholy nexus have amassed fortunes virtually holding hostage the citizens who naturally want to get the designs passed urgently. When according to the rules and regulations it should not take more than 45 days to get a design passed, because of the syndicates unholy manoeuvres it often takes a year or even more to do so. According to reliable sources, through this corruption, the syndicate is earning money to the tune of hundreds of crores taka.
In addition to irregularities in plan permission, there are corrupt practices in land use clearance, building permission and other processes, which are obstructing the planned development of the city.
RAJUK definitely has its achievements. The organisation is the capitals prime city development regulator and has developed residential areas and satellite cities in and around Dhaka to reduce the pressure on the capital by increasing housing facilities to public. Unfortunately, though the rampant corruption, which has been going on for a long time, has already eroded the credibility of this organisation. Common people are being continuously harassed by the corrupt employees and officials.
We have observed earlier that the design approval system of RAJUK is so complicated that there are many ways of corrupt behaviour. An applicant has to move to several tables of the organisation for getting even the release letter for using a land. Every year, 7,000 to 8,000 people get plan permission for construction of residential and commercial buildings in Dhaka city and few, if any permission application moves without any persuasion. This process gets momentum either by giving bribe or with the help of influential persons. The unnecessary harassment or time killing or intentional missing of specific files or putting objections on files are most common practices of the syndicate. To avoid the hassle and get the permission easily, the applicants engage dalals or agents in this process and almost all cases are associated with transaction of huge sums.
It is impossible to think of a functioning well-planned capital city when the city development authority itself is submerged in corruption. In order to stop this, RAJUK needs to be immediately reorganised. There is an urgent need to review the human resources and the tools and the system of daily routineoperation.
