ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain emphasised the need to make the accountability process more transparent and effective.
Addressing a seminar in connection with the Anti-Corruption Day on Friday, the President said that people should join hands with the anti-corruption institutions to capture the corrupt.
The president said that during tenure of the present government, immense steps were taken to eliminate corruption from the country, but a lot of work is still to be done.
He said that the people were now aware and we saw improvement in the overall usage of national resources. Media, political parties and civil society were also keeping an eye out for the misuse of public resources.
Law and Justice Minister Zahid Hamid said that a draft for the law has been prepared to review National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance, which would be placed before the parliamentary committee. He added by saying that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has a ‘zero tolerance policy’ against corruption.
The minister said that corruption creates hurdles in the growth of the country’s economy. It hinders the economic development by reducing domestic investment, discouraging foreign investment and encourages the wastage of resources.
State Bank Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra said that the bank has been a strong supporter of the fight against corruption. He added by saying that corruption could be tackled if ‘bottom up approach’ is adopted for decision-making.
Speaking on the occasion, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhary said that corruption leaves terrible effects on the society and it weakens democracy. He added that NAB devised a comprehensive strategy to terminate this menace.
Highlighting NAB’s policy, he said that NAB began anti-corruption campaigns around the country, particularly focusing the students. The chairman said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Higher Education Commission (HEC) to make the students aware of the threat of corruption. He said that the standard operating procedures, through which NAB’s working is streamlined, were put on its website for the people’s information.
Qamar Zaman said that Pakistan’s currently stands at 117th position in the list of minimum corruption countries as compared to 139th position in 2012. At the end of the event, the president distributed certificates and awards among the NAB officers in recognition of their outstanding performance in the fight against corruption.
