Going beyond the usual comfort zones like metropolitan, district and upazila headquarters, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is going to expand its corruption prevention committees to the union level as part of efforts to strengthen anti-corruption awareness and build social resistance against graft at the grassroots.
The initiative has been incorporated into the proposed budget for the 2026�"27 fiscal year. At present, corruption prevention committees operate at the metropolitan, district and upazila levels. The ACC now plans to establish such bodies in every union across the country from the next fiscal year.
Officials and anti-corruption campaigners believe the move will broaden public participation in anti-corruption activities and strengthen social resistance to corruption while promoting honesty, morality and good governance at the local level.
According to the ACC constitution, the proposed union-level committee will consist of seven members, including a chairperson and other designated members. At least one-third of the members must be women. Members will be selected from socially respected, conscious and voluntary individuals.
Foreign nationals, elected public representatives, government officials and employees, active political party members, persons declared incompetent by courts, bankrupts, loan defaulters and individuals accused or convicted of criminal offences will be ineligible for membership.
ACC Secretary Mohammad Khaled Rahim said punitive measures alone could not curb corruption.
“Punitive measures alone are not enough to curb corruption. Therefore, our goal is to create anti-corruption awareness among the grassroots people by expanding prevention activities at the union level. Prevention of corruption will be more effective if we can create social awareness along with implementing the law,” he said.
Welcoming the initiative, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said “The initiative to form a corruption prevention committee at the union level is certainly positive. Through this, it is possible to increase anti-corruption awareness among the people.”
However, he stressed the need to evaluate previous experiences. “The experience of running such committees in the past should be evaluated impartially. If a new structure can be created by learning from the weaknesses of the past, then the initiative is very likely to be successful,” he said.
According to the latest information available on the ACC website, district and metropolitan committees currently comprise up to 13 members, while upazila committees may have up to nine members.
ACC data show that more than 500 corruption prevention committees were active at the metropolitan, district and upazila levels in 2025. Over the past year, these committees organised more than 1,500 discussion meetings, over 1,000 debate competitions, and hundreds of rallies, human chains and seminars.
