Computerisation of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is demonstrating how it can make work speedy. When BRTA did its work manually, heaps of paper at each of its desk was a common scene. Delays and corruption are the common experiences of people seeking registration of vehicles. Early in the nineties, the picture in BRTA offices changed drastically following computerisation. Now registration or other documentation, done much faster, requires no more than hours, at best a working day. A BRTA office is now relatively hassle-free. Touts are mostly out. Computerisation made it all possible for the BRTA offices.
The other departments of the government could, by computerisation, achieve similar efficiency, speedy working, transparency and less corruption. The customs department, once known for corruption, has also substantially cut down bribe-taking after computerisation. A fuller computerisation would enable the customs cut down corruption further.
The courts need computerisation to speed up their work. Slow procedures bog down the courts now. An ossified system of record-keeping and dependence on handwriting, breeds inefficiency. The process of checking documents manually at different stages of trial slows down the working. The system also provides opportunities for tampering with the documents and records. Computerisation can eliminate these ills and inject speed into the work.
Police work, needing efficiency and dynamism, would also benefit from computerisation. The recent logistical improvements have proved to be inadequate for corruption-free police work. Computerisation is yet to really begin in the police department. The police still handwrite their investigation reports in Bangladesh. Leaky roofs at police stations in the remote areas often destroy or damage crime records. It is standard procedure in many countries to continually update records on criminals and suspects figures in computer data bases. The practice is still not practiced by the police in Bangladesh. Therefore, police can function more efficiently with computerisation. A single computer can make a lot of difference at the police station.
The government should computerise all its work without further delay to cut down corruption and increase efficiency. The departments that deal with the public can provide better service and attend to problems once they are computerised to simplify the work. The government has to train its personnel for a smooth transition from the traditional to the computerised system. The AL-led government should make all efforts for achieving also e-governance during its current tenure in office. It should set a time-frame for completing the task.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Enamul Haque
Quelle/Source: The Financial Express, 07.10.2010
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