DHAKA: Bangladesh ranked 16th from the bottom in the chart of Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 on the latest publication by international anti-corruption agency Transparency International on Tuesday.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) confirmed the details of Bangladesh through a press conference at its Banani office at around 11:30 am.

The Chairperson of the trusty board of TIB, Advocate Sultana Kamal and Executive Director of the organization Dr Iftekharuzzaman were also present in the press briefing.
The Corruption Perceptions Index-2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

Iftekharuzzaman said that the index scored 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) where Bangladesh is on 16th place this year. Ivory Coast, Guinea and Kenya are also accompanied with Bangladesh.

On the other hand, in the field of very clean image Bangladesh is on 136th position.

Though Bangladesh has slightly improved comparably last year but still the rate is far away from the level of satisfactory.

Denmark and New Zealand are top listed as less corrupted countries this year, he added.

Advocate Sultana Kamal, who presided over the briefing, said that the poor people are the worst sufferer in a country for corruption.

As a responsible citizen of the country everyone should oppose corruption. Media, civil society and non-government organizations can play a vital role in this regard, she added.
    
She also thinks that government should be more careful about democracy in all spheres of organizational structures and work with the pursuit of proper and regular concern so that good governance is established.

BDST: 1423 HRS, DEC 03, 2013