Staff shortage hinders Punjab anti-graft body performance

LAHORE
As NAB has sprung into action against corruption of politicians as well as of bureaucrats across the country, the Punjab government is yet to take a solid step towards fulfilling the basic needs of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab.
The provincial watchdog of corruption, the ACE Punjab, established in 1961 to check corrupt practices of government servants, is facing around 50 per cent of staff shortage (related to investigation) for years, but the authorities at the helm of the affairs are not bothered to concede the demand which could have provided a fresh impetus to the ACE in scrutinising/completing thousands of inquiries and cases pending mainly due to staff shortage.
Among the posts lying vacant with the ACE Punjab include one seat of Director (Rawalpindi), 27 out of 36 seats of Deputy Directors (Investigation), 28 out of 44 seats of Assistant Directors (Investigation), 08 out of 46 seats of Circle Officers/Inspectors, 05 out of 10 seats of Deputy Directors (Technical), 06 out of 12 seats of Assistant Directors (Technical) and 19 out of 44 seats of Assistant Directors (Legal). This state of affairs is not only resulting in piling up of cases every day but also drawing criticism from all and sundry on overall performance of the ACE Punjab.
The ACE Punjab is dealing with thousands of officers/officials – Grade-1 to Grade-22 - belonging to more than 50 departments of the province.
According to official statistics, by the end of August 2015, 111 complaints, 6,231 inquiries and 1,448 cases were pending with the ACE Punjab. Over 800 FIRs are registered against baboos of Grade-17 to Grade-21 and are at different stages of investigation. Among those, 433 FIRs are registered against Grade-17 officers, 300 against Grade-18, 86 against Grade-19, 10 against Grade-20 and 6 against Grade-21 officers.
The data further reveals that the Punjab Local Government Department is on top of the list with FIRs against 204 officers. Besides, 87 officers of Grade-17 and above of the Communication and Works Department, 80 of the Irrigation Department, 79 of the Health Department, 55 of the Revenue Department, 47 of the Forestry and Wildlife Department, 46 of the School Education Department, 37 of the Housing Department, 42 of the Higher Education Department, 18 of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), 10 of the Cooperatives Department, 9 each of the Agriculture Department and the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD), 8 of the Livestock and Dairy Development, 7 each of Auqaf Department, Planning & Development, Police and TEVTA, 6 each of the Excise and Taxation Department and Punjab Highways Department, 5 of the Auditor General of Pakistan and 4 officers of the judiciary are facing FIRs under different charges.
The Punjab Home Department, Industries, Finance, Special Education, Prisons, Zakat and Ushr, Information and Culture, Anti-Corruption Establishment, Social Welfare, Colonies and Transport departments are no exception either as some FIRs have also been registered against their officers as well.
The sorry state of affairs of the provincial watchdog of corruption doesn’t end here as its investigation against over 22,000 accused officials of different grades is also pending. Besides, there are over 250 officers of different departments whom the courts have declared as proclaimed offenders (POs) on the recommendations of the ACE Punjab.
The seriousness of the Punjab government can easily be gauged from the fact that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif last year formed a high-powered committee called the Punjab Anti-Corruption Committee comprising MPs and administrative secretaries to record observations and make recommendations in respect of cases processed by the Establishment as a step to improve performance of the ACE Punjab, but not a single meeting of the committee has been held so far. The CM is the chairman of the committee whereas he appointed Rana Ikram Rabbani as its vice-chairman in April 2014. Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, MPA Rana Jamil Hassan, MPA Muhammad Qadir Khan, Punjab chief secretary, additional chief secretary, Prosecution secretary, Chief Minister Inspection Team (CMIT) secretary, IGP, Board of Revenue senior member are members of the high-powered committee. The ACE Punjab director general was appointed as secretary of the committee. A notification in this regard was also issued on August 29, 2014.
Ironically, the committee which was to meet after every six months and even on the wish of the CM Punjab, but since its inception in 2014 not a single meeting of the committee has been held so far.
When contacted on Sunday, Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said that they had prepared certain recommendations for the ACE Punjab which would be presented to the committee soon. She, however, clarified that she was not a member of the committee rather she was heading another committee tasked to form recommendations for anti-corruption. She further said the government was serious in addressing issues faced by the ACE.
Punjab Anti-Corruption Committee Vice-Chairman Rana Ikram Rabbani taking to The News confirmed that there hasn’t been any meeting held of the committee so far. He said the BoR senior member and the Revenue secretary were included in the committee on his recommendation. Rabbani said he was preparing recommendations for the ACE Punjab and he would submit the same in the meeting whenever it was held. He said that corruption was a curse and it should be dealt with iron hands, adding that every segment of the society has to come forward to play his or her role in eradication of corruption.
Talking to The News, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf senior leader and Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rashid said that the provincial government was not serious in eradication of corruption, saying that the same was not priority of the ruling party. He said the people have no trust in the Anti-Corruption Establishment. Commenting on the staff shortage, he said this could be the one reason of poor performance of the ACE Punjab and it should be addressed on priority basis. Re-organisation of the ACE Punjab is need of the hour, he maintained.