Drives against corruption will continue: PM Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday asserted that her government was determined in its commitment to combat corruption in the country.

“I will not spare corrupts no matter whoever they are or whatever position they have as I started the drives against corruption. I even don’t consider who are close or who are not. I must execute the zero tolerance policy against corruption,” she said while addressing a press conference at Ganabhaban in the capital on Sunday afternoon.

The press conference was arranged to brief media about the outcome of her recent three-day bilateral visit to China from July 8-10.

The Prime Minister said people know about corruption in different sectors as her government has taken tougher stance against graft. “No one in the past had conducted drives in such way against corruption,” she said.

She continued: “I don’t believe that the image of my government will be damaged due to taking action against corruption.”

To this end, she said one of her peons made Tk 400 crore through corruption and she took action against him.

Referring to the allegations of question leaks at the Public Service Commission (PSC), the prime minister said: “We are taking stringent actions, which is why culprits are being identified and apprehended. No previous administration took such actions against them.”

In this regard, she said, “We will take action against those who secure jobs buying leaked questions from the PSC question leak racket. In my opinion, both parties involved deserve punishment,” she said.

“We are already taking action, and it will continue. I am confident that addressing irregularities will not tarnish our image,” she concluded.