Senate panel makes 51 recommendations to curb corruption in government depts

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights has come up with 51 recommendations to curb rampant corruption in the federal government departments, envisaging setting up of vigilance units in each of them.
The committee report was tabled in the House Friday, which has called for strict adherence to Estacode, besides recommending establishment of an anti-corruption agency at the federal level with administrative and financial autonomy.
The panel proposed that the Cabinet Secretariat, Establishment Division and Finance Division should be responsible for comprehensive civil service reforms for all levels of the government of Pakistan.
“There should be motivated, meritocratic, performance-driven, professional civil services, rationalisation of institutions, reducing size and shape of civil service, enhancing pay to living standards in real terms, continuing training, rightsizing targets and modern HR management systems with emphasis on career management and planning systems,” the panel said.
The panel recommended development of open and transparent mechanisms for public participation for fighting corruption by increasing social empowerment and participation, creating broad-based anti-corruption civil society coalition at the local level, development of a whistle blowing mechanism holding public meetings to enhance public participation.
Muhammad Javed Abbasi of PML-N, who heads the committee, tabled the report, which would now be discussed in the Senate and then adopted by the House early next month.
The Senate referred the matter to the committee on May 4 this year for deliberations and recommendations to fight corruption. The panel recommended a review of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 and the Federal Investigation Agency Act, 1974. It also called for development of a comprehensive legal framework to combat corruption and protection of the whistle blowers.
Welcoming the committee’s report, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, contended that it was a very important way forward given by the panel for the Senate’s perusal and adoption.
He read out some of the recommendations in the House. The committee had four meetings on the subject during which relevant institutions were invited, including Ministry of Interior, NAB, FIA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa DG. However, neither he nor any of its representatives attended a single meeting.
The panel noted that there were certain provisions in the Estacode for eradication of corruption in government departments that needed to be strictly followed to achieve the desired results. It observed that the Pay and Pensions Committee of the Ministry of Finance and provincial government departments would have to increase job motivation, morale and efficiency of public sector management and review perks and privileges system to bring them on a par with living standards and yearly adjustments as per the level of inflation and CPI etc.
The panel also recommended periodic classification and de-classification of sect and confidential documents and that rules may be made by the Cabinet Division according to the present day requirements.
It said corruption should be made part of the school syllabus from higher classes in addition to launching mass media campaigns on how fight corruption.
The panel recommendations also included government departments and agencies, responsible for provision of utilities to the public, need to be made more open and transparent to public, since their interactions have a bearing on the common man’s life.