Corruption mother of all evils: NAB chairman

Islamabad

Corruption is mother of all evils. The perception is that corruption is the main cause of trouble prevails around the world. It badly affects the state of economy, standard of living and social justice. Corruption eats up the innocence of people belonging to any walk of life, around the world. Indeed it is no longer a national matter but a transitional phenomenon that affects all societies and economies around the world.

If a country wants to achieve sustained socio-economic development with healthy foreign investment, corruption must be eliminated at all cost. According to a press release, this was stated by Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, Chairman NAB, while addressing as chief guest at a national seminar on ‘Role of youth in eradication of corruption,’ organised by Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

Dr. Javed Ashraf, Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University, senior faculty member and a large number of students of QAU attended the seminar.

The NAB chairman said that the ill effects of the menace of corruption have become one of the greatest challenges that every country is confronted with. The more developed countries have managed in reducing its size and scope to a minimum level through sustainable measures like building infrastructure but it is quite rampant in developing countries.

It is a major reason for inequality in the society and community. In our own case, corruption and misuse of authority is the main challenge. In fact, the nation was warned against this matter by our great leader Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the first-ever address in the Constituent Assembly in the following words.

“One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering — I do not say that other countries are free from it, but I think our condition is much worse — is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison. We must put it down with an iron hand and I hope that you will take adequate measures as soon as it is possible for this assembly to do so.” Unfortunately, the warning and advice went unheeded.

He said that corruption in any society is inversely proportional to good governance. If you look at any of the great human civilizations, you will see that mostly they did not fail simply due to external forces but because of internal weaknesses and corruption. He said that all segments of society especially the youth need to stand united against corruption, corrupt practices. They need to contribute to this cause by extending full support to the state anti-corruption agencies in spreading awareness about ill effects of this menace amongst our future generations.

As rightly said by Martin Luther King, Jr that:

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals are essential.”

He said that as head of Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption agency, it is important for me to share my organisation’s efforts for eradication of corruption. It is a privilege to mention that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been consistently engaging all stakeholders in the fight against corruption in order to uproot this evil from society. NAB woks on a three pronged strategy to weed out corruption. It consists of awareness/education, prevention and enforcement. He said that we have focused on awareness and prevention. NAB has taken lead in establishing a path way for effectively combating corruption in the system. Under the awareness/education regime, more than 42 thousand character building societies (CBS) have been established in universities and colleges all over the country for sensitising the future leader of our country against corruption. The awareness campaign against corruption/corrupt practices has been intensified by the bureau during the year 2015-2015. Various seminars, lectures, and events have been held for educating youth about the negative impact of corruption on society. Moreover, the message of “say No to corruption” has been disseminated successfully through various platforms i.e. electronic media, print media, seminars, National ID card, driving licenses and ATM machines etc.

He said that in the anti-corruption efforts, prevention regime is another effective tool to combat corruption and misuse of authority at an early stage before it happens. NAB is mandated under section 33C of NAO form Prevention Committees for suggesting amendments in rules/regulation, in order to prevent corruption and corrupt practices in government departments. These prevention committees are mainly constituted for government, ministries and departments who have more frequent contact and dealings with common people. Like Health, Education and Religious Affairs etc. Cooperatives and police departments also fall in this category. The prevention committees consist of senior officers of government, experts in the field, eminent citizens and NAB. He said that prevention committees have been established at NAB Headquarters and regional NAB offices. Recommendations of various prevention committees on finalisation are forwarded to quarters concerned for implementation.

He said that NAB is closely working with Ministry of Federal Education for incorporating Anti-Corruption theme in the Curriculum. We have also signed a Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. Under the MoU, NAB and HEC will make joint efforts in sensitizing the youth in Universities against corruption.

He said that we must collectively fight to destroy the cancer of corruption that eats deeper in to the moral fabric of our society. In this respect, the role of Youth and that is you who have to lead the charge against this national affliction. You need to be in the vanguard of this campaign against corruption.

He said that lets join NAB for renewal of our vows and commitments to eradicate corruption from our beloved country so that we leave for our future generations a better and prosperous Pakistan.

At the end, he appreciated Quaid-e-Azam University for becoming number one University of Pakistan and hoped that QAU will play a lead role in such activities for the forthcoming 9th December Day. He appreciated the efforts of Vice Chancellor Quaid-e-Azam University for his support which is absolutely critical to the success of the mission of eradication of corruption.

Earlier, Dr. Javed Ashraf, Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University appreciated NAB’s performance under the leadership of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry. He highlighted the performance of QAU which led towards its rating for becoming number one university of Pakistan.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/166721-Corruption-mother-of-all-evils-NAB-chairman