Anti-corruption drive: Open varsity joins hands with NAB

NAB acting chief says over Rs264 billion of looted public money recovered so far

ISLAMABAD: Acting chairman of the country‘s top anti-graft body has sought help of students and academics in weeding out corruption from society.

“NAB alone will not be able to fight corruption. All segments of the society will have to play their role especially the educational institutes and youth to create awareness of the menace of corruption,” NAB acting chairperson Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar said while addressing an event at the Allama Iqbal Open University here on Saturday.

The bureau and the university have joined forces to spread awareness of the menace of corruption, said a spokesperson of the university.

The event, which also featured a speech and poster competition among student s of the twin cities’ institutes, was organised by the university’s students advisory and counselling services in collaboration with Rawalpindi and Islamabad regional offices.

Tajwar said that youth are the future leaders of the country and can play their role in the fight against corruption. Ho hoped the support from the country’s largest distance learning education institute will be a source of strength in promoting the concept of good governance and developing a society free from corruption.

He said the NAB has been assigned with the responsibility of eliminating corruption trough awareness, prevention and enforcement. The bureau under the leadership of Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has launched a national anti-corruption strategy.

NAB has also been entrusted to educate and advise public organisations, holders of public offices and the people on measures to combat corruption.

He said that character-building societies had been established in educational institutes all over the country to educate the youth to contain the monsters. He said an effective anti-corruption media campaign has also been launched. The bureau has signed an MoU with the Higher Education Commission to carry out joint awareness efforts against corruption.

He said NAB has adopted an enforcement-based approach in its fight against corruption.

Tajwar said NAB has so far recovered over Rs 264 billion of looted public money. He said that due to extraordinary performance of NAB, Pakistan’s ranking has considerably improved from 129 to 126 out of 175 countries in the latest Transparency International report on corruption perception index.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqi announced that the AIOU will provide academic and institutional support to NAB in making its campaign successful. It was decided that AIOU and NAB will jointly arrange similar events at the university’s regional campuses in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sukkur and Multan. The university will also incorporate anti-corruption content in its curriculum.

Dr Siddiqi said AIOU organised a number of activities recently to promote good governance and transparency in the university’s overall academic, administrative and financial system.

We have also upgraded complaints management centre for addressing student issues on a fast-track basis, he said.

Transparency has also been introduced in admission, examination and delivery network through automation and use of technology, reducing the human element.

Kanwal Kazmi stood first in the Urdu speech competition, Feroza Butt in English speech and Zainab Saeed in poster competition.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2015.