Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman has said the government will not tolerate commission-based dealings in development projects, and urged ordinary citizens to monitor how public money is spent.

Speaking as chief guest at the annual general meeting of the Digannagar Union Welfare Association, formed by people from Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah, at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka, the minister said the money allocated for development works came from taxpayers' pockets.

Because of that, local residents had a duty to check whether roads and other works were being built properly, and to report substandard work so that the contractors and engineers responsible could be held accountable, he said. Elected representatives alone could not solve every problem in their areas, he added, so social organisations and concerned citizens had to step forward.

Asaduzzaman said the government had introduced a lottery system for transferring sub-registrars in Dhaka city, to make the process more transparent and remove suspicion that favouritism drove postings.

On drug control, he said a zero-tolerance approach had been adopted in Shailkupa, and that offenders should face the law regardless of their political links. Using political connections to shield people accused of drug-related or other crimes was unacceptable, he said, and attempts to influence criminal investigations or court proceedings should also be resisted.

He called for action against political vendettas, attacks on homes, vandalism and looting. Around 395 additional roads in Shailkupa had recently been added to the list of roads maintained by the Local Government Engineering Department, he said, and he hoped connectivity across the upazila would improve within five years.