Over 350 measures proposed to end corruption

NAB proposes steps to purge finance, law ministries of errant practices

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has outlined more than 350 measures to eradicate corruption from federal ministries and their associated departments, a senior official revealed.

On Tuesday, NAB director general Aliya Rashid told a parliamentary panel that of these 14 measures have been suggested to the Ishaq Dar-led ministry of finance and Pervaiz Rashid-led law and justice ministry. Twelve measures have been suggested to the Supreme Court (SC) and 16 measures proposed to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).



NAB officials also said that the top accountability bureau had briefed Ahsan Iqbal, who heads the ministry of planning, development and reforms, six months ago on this proposed measures strategy. As per this plan, the bureau identified loopholes or vulnerable aspects in these departments and proposed 368 measures to weed out corruption from them.

The head of the parliamentary panel, Javed Murtaza Abbasi, directed the federal law ministry and NAB to prepare a joint strategy for eliminating corruption from federal directorates and ministries. He set a September 8 deadline. The law ministry was asked to send a written request to the NAB chairman for this purpose. He would then assign this task to NAB chief to coordinate with the law ministry.

Federal Law and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid also attended the meeting but left it before discussion could open on this specific issue. In his presence, Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan, the ministry’s secretary, said that in many cases corruption cannot be proven.

The delay in the process of approving the files caused 80% of corruption, he added. The NAB director general briefed the panel on the accountability bureau’s anti-graft campaign.

Electoral reforms

At the outset of the proceedings, Pervaiz Rashid told the committee that giving the right of vote to overseas Pakistanis is not a viable option.

He clarified that he was speaking in his individual capacity, not as a minister. Rashid also suggested that the law ministry and ministry of parliamentary affairs convince other parliamentary panels that are working on electoral reforms not to press this issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd,  2015.