The hue and cry on corruption by Khawaja Muhammad Asif in the National Assembly prompted the chief whip of PPP on Thursday to inform the House that a Committee had been constituted under Law Minister Farooq H. Neak to find out the sectors where corruption was being committed.
He went on saying that an emergent meeting has been called inviting all the stakeholders including Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), NAB, registrars of Supreme Courts and High Courts, Heads of Anti Corruption departments of the provinces to have in depth discussion and find out ways and means to root out the menace. Opposition has also been invited to come up with solid proofs in the meeting, making it easy for the government to nip the evil in bud.
Khawaja Muhmmad Asif did not agree with the government suggestion, terming the constitution of the committee as wastage of time. He questioned that as to why taking strict action was not being taken against the departments like FBR, PIA, Pakistan Steel Mills, Utility Stores Corporation and Railways where corruption was being done. The issue of corruption is not new in the country because media and civil society have raised it many a times but the government did not take it seriously. Even the government did not appoint the Chairman of NAB for two years while appointment of a controversial NAB Chairman has been challenged by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly in the Supreme Court (SC).
The government also failed on another front and could not pass National Accountability Bill to establish an independent Commission for the last four years to rein in corruption. Former Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen also made mention of Rs 500 billion corruption in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) but the PPP government did not pay any heed to his remarks. Similarly, the Apex Court also took notice of corruption in Rental Power Plants, Haj scandal and illegal appointments including that of Adnan Khawaja as OGDCL Chairman. When the Supreme Court, media and civil society raised the issue of corruption in the country, the government did not take serious notice of it. Now the government is suddenly awaking t when its tenure is just ending. It formed the Committee to find the root causes of this menace--it is merely an eye wash. The Transparency International Pakistan Corruption in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report in 2011 has ranked Pakistan 42nd most corrupt but the raking further dipped to 33rd in 2012.
Besides, the report said that on November 28, 2012 Pakistan had also been declared the seventh most corrupt country out of 97 as far as rule of law index of 2012 is concerned which was a clear indication that corruption in Pakistan was on the rise.
The present institutional framework for the control of corruption in Pakistan comprises many organisations like Anti-Corruption Organisations, Prime Minister's and Chief Minister's Inspection Teams, Federal Investigating Agency, Ombudsman, etc. These organisations generally respond to complaints about corruption and take appropriate measures to check and punish the corrupt, which have failed in checking the officials of higher ranks and have, therefore, lost their effectiveness.