NAB officers asked to double up efforts to check corruption

KARACHI: Mr. Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, Chairman NAB said that the Father of the Nation Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan had termed "One of the biggest curses… is bribery and corruption". NAB officers to double their efforts in eradication of corruption. He said this while addressing NAB Officers during his visit to NAB Karachi, says a Press release.

He said that NAB is essentially a complaint driven organization which was established to eradicate corruption and looted money from corrupt. NAB had chalked out a very comprehensive operational methodology for proceeding of cases complaint verification, inquiry and investigation. NAB's investigation officers strictly follow Code of Conduct and zero tolerance policy on the basis of evidence as per law. The year 2014 which we can be called basically a year of re-invigoration of NAB, he said.  

He said that to close the possibility of any single NAB officer/official influencing the discharge of official business, the concept of a "Combined Investigation Team" (CIT) was introduced where two investigation officers and a legal consultant are working as a team for a fair, transparent and unbiased, inquiry/ investigation.

He said in short span of last three years, NAB's performance has improved significantly. Due to this reason, Transparency International as per the latest report of Transparency International (TI) of 2016, Pakistan's ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has improved, adding that Pakistan was considering role model in South Asian countries in its efforts against corruption. This is a great achievement for Pakistan due to NAB efforts. 

He said that corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the Pakistan as per Transparency International (TI), report was declining after 2013 due to steps taken by the NAB against the corrupt. Besides TI, the independent national and International watch dogs like PLIDAT and World Economic Forum had also appreciated Pakistan's efforts to curb corruption in Pakistan.

He said that the figures of complaints, inquiries and investigations are almost double in 2017 as compared to the same period of 2016. The comparative figures are indicative of the hard work being put in by all ranks of NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, where fight against corruption is being taken as a national duty. Increase in the number of complaints also reflects enhanced public trusted in the NAB. NAB with improved infrastructure and rationalized workload, timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of case putting a maximum limit of 10 months- from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to investigation and finally to a reference in Accountability Court, he added.

He said that youth is the future of Pakistan; therefore NAB has laid special emphases on involving youth in order to aware them about the ill effects of corruption from an early age so that they may hate corruption in all its forms in future, he added. The Chairman further said that NAB in collaboration with HEC has established over 45 thousands Character Building Societies (CBS) in all the leading Universities and Colleges across the country to build an effective edifice against corruption.

He said that Karachi is commercial hub of Pakistan. Eradication of corruption is vital to make country's economy strong. He said Pakistan has signed a MoU with China to enhance cooperation in eradication of corruption. Under this MoU Pakistan and China will oversee transparency in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan has become first Chairman of SAARC Anti-Corruption Forum which is pride for Pakistan due to NAB efforts.