Pakistan ranked 42nd most corrupt country

IQBAL MIRZA

KARACHI: Pakistan is ranked 42nd most corrupt country, out of 183 countries surveyed by the Berlin based Transparency International.

Adviser, Transparency International Pakistan (TIP), Syed Adil Gilani, on the occasion of Anti-Corruption Day, being celebrated across the world by the United Nations on Dec 9, said that Pakistan's '2011 Corruption Perception Index' score is 2.5 out of 10, and ranked as 42nd most corrupt country out of 183 countries surveyed by Transparency International. In 2010, Pakistan's score was 2.3 and had ranked 34th most corrupt country out of 178 countries.

He recalled that on his election as the first President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his address to the Assembly session held in Karachi in August 1947, had said:

"The second thing that occurs to me is this: 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 that 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.

The next thing that strikes me is this: Here again it is a legacy which has been passed on to us. Along with many other things, good and bad, has arrived this great evil--the evil of nepotism and jobbery. This evil must be crushed relentlessly. I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any influence directly or indirectly brought to bear upon me. Whenever I will find that such a practice is in vogue or is continuing anywhere, low or high, I shall certainly not countenance it".

"The arrest of complacency about the corruption problem in Pakistan is a good sign. Now we need strong action to make our public institutions more accountable to citizens," said Transparency International Pakistan, Chairman Sohail Muzaffar.

There have been, however, signs of progress as well, which include:

* Good performance of Public Accounts Committee, which recovered Rs 115 billion during the period 2008 to 2011.

* Introduction of a Judicial Policy in 2009 which announced "zero-tolerance for corruption in judiciary",

* Efforts of Ministry of Defence to apply long-standing public Procurement Rules 2004  in the armed forces departments.

* Institutions such as Federal Tax Ombudsman considered as one of the   cleanest institution.

Though this year Pakistan CPI was better than last year but it is still lower than 2008 CPI. Last sixteen years CPI of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh show that worst CPI was in PPP Government in 1996 when Pakistan scored 1 out of 10. The best CPI of Pakistan was in PML Government in 1998 when Pakistan scored 2.7 out of 10, and ranked as the 15th most corrupt country out of 71.

Sohail Muzaffar said that this progress has been overshadowed by ongoing corruption cases: the NICL, RPP and 2010 Haj scandal in which the Supreme Court had effected recoveries of billions of rupees.

Adil Gilani said that last year Supreme Court of Pakistan while trying corruption cases had recovered only from RPP and NICL over Rs 9 billion and Rs 1.70 billion respectively, which is only a tip of the iceberg .He further said that the Corruption in Haj 2010, Pakistan Steel and PIA which are in hundreds of billions of rupees deficit and Railways, illegal concession at the cost of exchequer amounting to half trillion rupees per annum given to  Abraj Group for  KESC in 2009, illegal promotions of over 40 Secretaries struck down by the Supreme Court, Punjab Bank Rs 70 billion corruption case, fake degree cases of parliamentarians, declaration of over 35 percent registered voters as fake in 2007 are reasons of recent uprising of masses against corruption.