Uprooting Corruption

Engr Asad Ali

Corruption has become equal with our existing system and is pushing our nation to a dead end. Favouritism, nepotism, misappropriation of public fund, bad debts and misuse of power are on the rise. Corruption has gained roots in our society because of wrong decisions and weak policies of the successive governments.

It is the misuse of entrusted power for private gains. Our country is passing through lot of crisis and instability. Corruption is present at every level of profession, whether it’s a most noble profession i.e. teaching, engineering and medical to any other profession in the world. In government education sector, teachers are corrupt. The get salary of teaching in schools or colleges but they do not play their role as a good teacher in college which enforces students to get tuition form the same teachers privately.

The responsible institutions and agencies for checking corruption have completely failed in their duty. According to the most recent perception report from Transparency International Pakistan published at the end of 2012, corruption in Land Administration leads the long list of corrupt affairs followed by police, income tax, judiciary, tendering and contracting, customs, plus state corporations.

The major reason of increasing corruption are political instability, poverty, unequal structure of society, unemployment, lack of accountability, weak political institutions and absence of rule of law. Resultantly, they are affecting political stability, equal distribution of resources and power, confidence of local and foreign investors and political institutions.

Corruption has also adverse impact on the private investment, both domestic and foreign which are considered very harmful to a developing economy. This impact on the economy lead to inflation and unemployment in the country. The direct impact of corruption in Pakistan could be witnessed in the rise of food commodities, which according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, had increased up to 120 percents in the last one year. It plays significant role in widening the gap between the rich and poor. Requisite measures (given below) can be helpful in reducing it if not uprooting this menace.
1.    People should be made aware of their rights. By providing general awareness to the masses, the chances of grabbing money from the people lowers to the minimum.
2.    Institutions should be made strong for proper working of the democratic system.
3.    Proper system of accountability and check and balance should be implemented.
4.    Red tapism is the major cause of corruption and e-governance is the best solution for this solving this problem.
5.    Anti-social activities should be condemned and resisted.
6.    Justice delayed is justice denied. In time justice can minimize corruption practices,
7.    Salaries and wages should be increased in order to decrease the chances of corruption.
8.    The unemployed class should be provided jobs and recruited purely on merit.
9.    Education system must be revised and improved according to national needs.
10.  Stable governments are essential to prevail justice and to uproot corruption.
Government is required to ensure the rule of law in a strict sense. The law of rule means equal application of law, equal protection by law, and equality before law. A publicity campaign to create awareness among the people on the adverse effects of corruption is indispensible to combat the corruption. A responsible press to gather, analyze, organize and disseminate the information is vital to create the great public awareness and to provide the impetus for undertaking reforms to overcome the corruption.It is complex problem so it should be countered on all possible fronts with will and sincerity. We must reform ourselves. Only proper planning and strictly implemented policies with public support can put halt to this growing menace.(MUET-SZAB Khp)