Prime Minister Imran Khan won elections on two major slogans one was elimination of corruption and second was to improve the conditions of poor. What are his achievements in 7 months in these two fields is reflected in daily talk shows and in print media by various journalists majority of them feel disgusted and not at all happy with ever deteriorating performance. Opposition is sitting on the other side of the fence and is not interested in coming closer to government benches. Heads of two major political parties are facing mega corruption charges. Majority of them hate NAB because they ask them to justify their wealth instead of justifying the wealth start accusing and bashing NAB courts and prosecutors. In Pakistan corruption is not restricted to just politicians but country is full of corrupt people. Corruption is rampant all over even today nothing moves without making underhand deal, stakes have gone high due to Naya Pakistan. There is a reason behind this menace. We are not doing anything to do away the old system, until and unless system is changed in real sense and not demolished any change can take place in Pakistan. Unfortunately government has failed to prioritize the issue confronting the country. It appears that priority is to fix up cronies, friends at lucrative posts and fixing their salaries in millions when the ship is badly sinking. Party is suffering badly due to in house fighting and that is not a good omen.
Let us first define what corruption is. As defined in Transparency International generally speaking as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. Corruption can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs.
Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of government where policies are changed or the central functioning of the state is disturbed, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the people. Petty corruption refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public officials while dealing ordinary citizens, who often suffer while visiting places like government offices, hospitals, schools, police departments, courts and other agencies.
Political corruption is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources tailor made to suit individual convenience and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth. Money is swindled due to lack of transparency by not observing rules processes and procedures. Transparency binds public officials, civil servants, managers, board members and business people to report on their activities to hold them accountable by public. It is the surest way of guarding against corruption but seldom appointed.
There are two important parts of corruption. First part of corruption is what everybody talks about and we witness on daily basis as mentioned above. Second corruption is most dangerous called Intellectual corruption. Intellectual corruption is much more dangerous as it not only destroys the institution but does not allow right people to enter in the arena. With this corruption one assumes the role of dictator; they have their own group under them to defend them. It is totally unethical, ill intended thoughtfully and craftily done to harm the country. The past example is Pakistan Steel and the current example is PTV where MD has backing of influential sitting with PM and on the other side is Minister for Information. It is bringing disrepute not to the government but causing harm to PTV which is already undergoing heavy losses. The solution was in putting aggressive marketing team but it ended up in BUNDER BAANT. The cost of corruption can be divided into four main categories: political, economic, social and environmental.
On the political front, corruption is a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they’re misused for private advantage. This is harmful in established democracies, but very common in democratic set ups, therefore It is very challenging to develop accountable political leadership in a corrupt climate, which in Pakistan appears to be a distant dream.
Economically, corruption depletes national wealth. Corrupt politicians invest public resources in projects that will fill their pockets rather than benefit communities, and prefer high-profile projects such as motor ways, bridges, roads, power plants, and refineries over less spectacular but no concentration on urgent projects such as schools, hospitals and colleges.
Corruption undermines people’s trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. Whenever a corrupt is hauled up he pleads innocent and is supported by his party members whereas they should condemn that leader. In Pakistan corruption has spread like epidemic due to lack of strict accountability hard punishments and quick dispensation of justice. First finish intellectual corruption and then come down to main corruption. To do away with intellectual corruption you need notifications and no help from courts is needed. Anything that is self created can be self destroyed
If the government is interested to do away with the corruption, start should be from within. Get list of all the department of government see their salary structure, perks, privileges, cars, servants etc. This should take just 15 days to get the data. Fix new salaries, no one should be paid more than MP-1 or MP-2 grade. From present structure it appears we are an oil kingdom. Unless it is undone no change can take place, because they are so strongly entrenched and have assumed the role of mafia and they protect each other. Mr. Khan you are the Chief Executive of Pakistan with full authority, please rise up to the realities before it gets too late.