Navigating public services without encountering demands for illicit payments has long been a daunting task for ordinary citizens in Bangladesh. In a bold bid to shine a light on this systemic corruption and empower the public, two young entrepreneurs have created a digital crowdsourcing platform named ‘Ghush.site’ (Ghush being the Bengali word for bribe).
Inspired by similar civic technology concepts abroad, co-founders Saif Kabir and Shahed Sharif designed and launched the portal entirely through self-funding. Built independently without reliance on foreign grants or Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) backing, the portal relies solely on public interest and voluntary contributions from ordinary citizens.
The platform has witnessed an overwhelming public response within its first six days of operation. During this brief initial period, citizens submitted 6,283 individual corruption reports, detailing aggregate bribe demands exceeding 2.27 billion Bangladeshi Taka (specifically 227.45 crore Taka). A administrative division-wise analysis reveals that Dhaka Division registered the highest number of complaints at 2,714, followed closely by Chattogram and Rajshahi divisions. Significantly, the data highlights that at least 23 per cent of complainants courageously refused to pay the bribes demanded of them.
The founders have explicitly clarified that the website does not act as a law enforcement agency or a substitute for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Every report published on the site carries an unverified disclaimer. Instead, the initiative aims to build an open, crowdsourced digital repository that allows citizens to review previous experiences associated with specific public offices before seeking services.
To protect contributors from potential retaliation, the submission process requires no account creation, email addresses, or phone numbers. The platform also enforces strict content moderation protocols to prevent targeted personal attacks against individual officials. Reports mentioning specific names, designations, or contact details are scrubbed by the moderation team prior to publication, ensuring the focus remains squarely on structural and institutional malpractices rather than personal vendettas.
Submitting an incident report takes roughly two minutes. Users access the portal, click on the submission option without signing up, and select the relevant government department, service type, geographic location, and the amount demanded. After providing a brief description of the outcome—strictly omitting individual names—the report is submitted for review and published once approved by moderators.
According to Saif Kabir, the true measure of the platform’s success lies in building civic awareness and giving ordinary people the confidence to resist extortion in public offices.
