President urges stringent measures to eradicate corruption

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain said on Wednesday that fresh analysis of corruption indicates that the menace is decreasing in the country and for that the credit goes to the policies of the government and the efforts of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Addressing a Seminar on ‘A National Dialogue to Promote Good Governance and Development in Pakistan’, jointly organised by NAB and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Islamabad, President Mamnoon said that corruption creates a sense of insecurity, exacerbates poverty and adds to the misfortune of the vulnerable segments of society. He further said that corruption instills a sense of hopelessness and despondency and threatens good values which have been established over centuries. He noted that in 2008 the national debt stood at Rs6,700 billion and when the present government took over in 2013 it inherited debt amounting to Rs14,800 billion. He said that in the last decade or so, neither new dams or universities were constructed nor any power project materialized. Spending on education was also not significant.
“It was difficult to comprehend how the debt had mounted,” he added. He said that the nation has the right to ask the rulers as to where the money was being spent. He said that the country couldn’t progress if there is annual corruption of 800 to 1000 billion rupees. He expressed dissatisfaction over Pakistan’s ranking at 126 in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). He noted that though there has been an improvement in Pakistan’s ranking in the CPI yet this is not enough and called for working more vigorously to combat the menace. He said that the curse of corruption has links with a multitude of vices. Its roots are linked to injustice, mistrust, suspicion, extremism and terrorist activities adding that without accountability a nation cannot prosper.
The president also called for social boycott of corrupt elements. He noted that the primary responsibility for ensuring a culture of good governance lies directly on the shoulders of the civil administration. He also called upon Chairman NAB to keep working to ensure effective accountability and encouraged the latter to apprehend big fishes against whom ample evidence exists. He said that good governance is a necessary requirement for a country’s development. “It protects human rights, delivers justice, maintains law and order and provides equal opportunities to the masses”, he added. He said that good governance also delivers the fruits of progress and development to all and sundry.
“In today’s globalised world, good governance helps to meet challenges. It makes the system of the state effective and efficient. People of the country enjoy equal rights under good governance. No one is considered above law no matter how influential he or she is”, he maintained. The president concluded his speech by calling upon all segments of society to work in unison in eradicating the disease of corruption.