Rai Manzoor named Pakistan’s first ever Integrity Idol winner

Islamabad

Before a crowd of more than 500 national officials and dignitaries at the National Library of Pakistan, including high-level political party representatives, foreign ambassadors, public servants, and engaged citizens, Rai Manzoor Husain Nasir was named Pakistan's first ever Integrity Idol winner on Wednesday.

Chosen from hundreds of nominees, Nasir’s dedication to serving citizens and carrying out his duties honestly has earned him the respect of his colleagues, superiors and most importantly- Pakistani citizens.

Integrity Idol is a citizen-run movement to identify and celebrate upstanding government officials. Originating in Nepal in 2014, Integrity Idol has since evolved into a global movement in five countries:  Nepal, Liberia, Pakistan, Mali and Nigeria. In each country, local Accountability Lab teams run a nation-wide campaign to identify and encourage civil servants who demonstrate exemplary integrity in their work. Officials are nominated by and voted upon by the public at-large, with the annual campaign culminating in an award ceremony to celebrate the finalists. In addition to promoting honesty in government nationwide and year round, Integrity Idol elevates positive role models and sparks important discussions at the community, national, and international levels about the importance of integrity and personal responsibility.

In Pakistan, Integrity Idol ran for the first time this year, with hundreds of nominations received from across the country and hundreds of thousands of people watching and voting online and by SMS for their favourites. Integrity Idol 2016 was run by Accountability Lab Pakistan is collaboration with Geo News as an exclusive media partner, FM 84.9 as the radio partner and the Youth Association of Pakistan as the event partner.

The winner of First Integrity Idol Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir said that it is great honour to receive the award however there is a lot to do in this direction. I am thankful to Integrity Idol for such a purposeful initiative.

Chief Guest, Ameer Jamat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq, applauded the efforts of Accountability Lab by stating, "Integrity Idol is a one of its kind contest which will help bring transparency and integrity to the public sector and ensure good governance across our country." He congratulated all five nominees and this year’s winner saying: “these Integrity Idols are role-models for all of us.”

Nadeem Afzal Chan, parliamentarian from Pakistan People’s Party, said that there is a nexus between corruption and ruling elites which needs to be broken. “The country can only progress if politicians become role model,” he said.

Ali Raza Abidi from MQM expressed that corruption prevails in our country because there is no effective accountability mechanism in place. Serious efforts are needed to stop corruption and malpractices at National level and every one need to take part in this.

“This nation has the leader like Quaid-e-Azam who refused any personal benefit out of government exchequer. This is the example we should follow,” said senior parliamentarian from KP Ali Muhammad while speaking on the occasion.

The winner of First Integrity Idol, Nasir has become well-known for giving his personal mobile phone number to citizens so that they can call him at any time if they face problems; for creating a sense of community among his staff; and for making sure every rupee of public money is spent in a transparent way.

Nasir added: “Satisfaction comes from serving people. The respect of every human being comes first. This prize means everything to me because it comes from the Pakistani people. My message to young people in this country is to join the civil service and serve with honesty- you will win respect”.

The four other finalists in the 2016 competition in Pakistan included Farukh Attique, Deputy Commissioner of Mastung, Balochistan; Meher Un Nisa, the Media Coordinator for the Planning and Development Department of Sindh; Fida Hussain, a lab assistant in the government post graduate college in Mardan; and Imtiaz Khan Khichi, Assistant Commissioner of Depalpur. The nomination process for Pakistan's 2017 Integrity Idol will open next week.

 “We saw incredible energy today from the people of Pakistan who have truly shown that they support and want to celebrate honest leaders,” noted Brigadier (r) Musaddiq Abbasi, Chairman Board of the Accountability Lab Pakistan. “I encourage everyone in Pakistan to join us in this effort to ‘name and fame’ those who uphold the Pakistani values of honesty, integrity and accountability.”