Universal problem: Combating corruption termed collective responsibility

NAB, HEC chiefs urge youth to play their due role against corruption

ISLAMABAD: With corruption prevailing in every aspect of life, it is our collective responsibility to stem it.

This was stated by speakers at a seminar on the “role of youth in eradicating corruption” at the Higher Education Commission secretariat on Monday.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, who was the chief guest at the seminar, highlighted that all countries in the world were suffering from corruption including the developed as well as non-developed. The intensity, however, may vary.

In developed countries, the NAB chief said, citizens do not encounter corruption on a daily basis since it is limited. Hence, its adverse effects tend to be marginal and do not jeopardise the welfare of the people. By contrast, in a country like Pakistan where each borrowed dollar must be spent to uplift people from poverty, corruption can have significant negative impacts.

He went on to say that eradicating corruption from the country is no easy task and that efforts to fight corruption in Pakistan are far more complicated as compared to other countries.

“The fact that corruption has become a ‘way of life’ neither excuses it, nor makes it acceptable for those who lives are impoverished by its persistence,” he said.

In order to tackle corruption, the accountability chief said that the anti-corruption agencies cannot overcome this ordeal alone and that all segments of society.

Pointing out that an estimated 60 per cent of population are less than 30-years-of-age, he said that the youth need to stand united against corruption and corrupt practices. Hence, they need to contribute to this cause by supporting the state and anti-corruption agencies.

In order to raise awareness about the ill-effects of corruption amongst the youth, Chaudhry said NAB and the HEC have signed a memorandum of understanding to make concerted efforts to root out corruption from the society. Highlighting NAB’s work, he said that in the first nine months of the on going  year, prosecution of casts stands at 76 per cent.

Earlier, HEC chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed urged teachers to train students apart from imparting education about fighting corruption.

“The responsibility of stemming corruption lies on all of us. However, the biggest responsibility lies on the shoulders of teachers to train the youth against the menace of corruption,” he emphasised.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2016.