Owning cars at others' cost  

The government seems to be quite generous when it comes to offering car loans to its high and mid-level public servants notwithstanding the fact it encounters tremendous difficulties in bankrolling its annual budgets.

However, the government can afford this type of extravagance, for it involves taxpayers' money. The people who float proposals to make the life of the public servants more comfortable and approve those do not have to pay from their own pockets. The bureaucracy remains instrumental in floating the proposals to grant undue benefits and the politicians in power, for their own ultimate benefits, approve those. The officials do play a crucial role during the election time. So, they deserve attractive perks and privileges!

The government had earlier offered interest-free car loans to public servants holding the ranks of secretary, additional secretary and joint secretary. The officials, who took the offer, were also entitled to a substantial sum as monthly car maintenance allowance.

The issue has again come to the fore as the Ministry of Public Administration (MoPA) recently floated a proposal to offer car loans to the public servants holding the rank of deputy secretary. Their number now stands at about 1,600. If the proposal is approved, each of the officials would be entitled to a loan amounting to Tk 3.0 million for buying a car and a monthly vehicle maintenance allowance of Tk 50,000. 

The MoPA, reportedly, has sought an additional allocation of Tk 4.61 billion to make available loans to these mid-level officials.

The ministry concerned has crafted the proposals in such a manner that the public servants become owners of the cars without paying a penny from their own pockets. In fact, the public servants can repay the instalments of interest-free loans from the maintenance allowances after meeting the expenditures on fuel and drivers' wages. They have resorted to the age-old Bengali adage, 'Koir tele koi bhaja' (frying a type of fish in oil oozing out of its own body).

The MoPA while making the loan offer claims that buying so many cars from the state coffer and appointing drivers for those would be a long-drawn process and involve a hefty amount of money. It also says the provision of car loans remains a better financial option for the government than providing cars to the public servants from the transport pool.

The MoPA argument will not hold ground if a proper scrutiny of the public transport management system is made. The system, it is widely suspected, is graft-ridden and mismanaged. Irregularities in purchase of fuel and other maintenance works are extensive. Abuse of official power in the use of vehicles is also rampant.

Though high officials are entitled to use one government vehicle each, they are very often found to breach that rule. They manage additional one or two vehicles, primarily from projects under their respective ministries, for use by the members of their families. Such violation of government transport-use rules is an open secret. But no serious attempt has ever been made to stop the malpractice. 

There are also plenty of instances where officials have been using vehicles belonging to government transport pool or projects despite availing car loans. It is more of a free-for-all situation as far as the use of government vehicles is concerned. Since it is none but the bureaucrats are in control of operation and maintenance of transports, the situation is unlikely to improve. The fact remains that if the operations of the government transport pool are streamlined, there would be no need for offering interest-free loans to its high and mid-level officials for buying cars.

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