Corruption is not only caused by the state's inability to implement tight monitoring systems, but also because there is not an integrated system of internal supervision in the public sector. That is the reason why corruption is flourishing everywhere in Pakistan these days.
The National Corruption Perception Survey 2009 (NCPS 2009) indicates that the overall Corruption in 2002 has increased from Rs 45 Billion to Rs 195 Billion in 2009. The survey further states that the corruption in Pakistan has surged by 400% in the last 3 years.
According to different scholars who worked on eradicating corruption suggests that Corruption has its roots in politics and grows in a power-related environment. General definitions of corruption -- described as an abuse of power for one's personal interests -- clearly shows that corruption is part of the power itself. Police and Power maintained their ranking as the top two most corrupt sectors.
It has become an open secret that corruption and money politics were rife and widespread during the history of elections in Pakistan and even to date. And in such a corrupt political recruitment system, it is nearly impossible to produce credible leaders. In fact, such an election, where candidates essentially ""invest"" huge sums of money to people that can get them elected, gives birth to corrupt leaders who almost have to be involved in corruption to recoup their ""investment"".
The systemic corruption here can also be attributed in part to the strong political and economic oligarchy that continues to thrive. Paul Johnson defines oligarchy as a tiny clique of elite leaders that make the public policy to suit their own private interests, through direct subsidies, and provide facilities or protection from other business competitors (Hadiz&Robinson, 2004). This oligarchy roots corruption in politics and spreads to all of the power dimensions. The oligarchy thus supports the corrupt political culture as well. Improving law enforcement by reforming the police, the prosecutors and the courts will not automatically bring immediate results.
Opportunities to eradicate corruption
First, the corruption eradication campaign can be started by coordinating with the existing law enforcement agencies. It is the task of an independent Corruption Eradicating body to deal with the big oligarchy-related corruption scandals.
The body should be independent and have no political handicaps that would prevent it from prosecuting high-profile corruption cases that involve the economic and political oligarchy. Moreover, the Body needs extraordinary discretion.
The Body does not need to get permission from the president to investigate high-ranking public officials. The government should only equip the Body with adequate staff and budget to send the big corruptors to the jail. This way the chance of political victimization could be minimized.
With the distribution of law enforcement, the President or PM will not directly challenge the oligarchy of corruption. It is the task of the independent body to clean up the oligarchy. The second strategy that can be done by the government is to establish an integrated system of public services. The government did not start the campaign for good governance as the initiatives should come from donors and the public. The eradication of corruption in public service is a strategic effort because the impact will directly benefit the people. The success of eradicating corruption in public services will improve public trust in the end.
The above strategies are a part of institutional and policy reform that need strong political will. The next problem is how to give birth to leaders who have high integrity and strong political commitment? The answer to this question is actually the third strategy that has its roots in civil society.
Now is the time for civil society and Media to get deeper into politics rather than just set up monitoring bodies and become watchdogs. The presence of civil society and Media is particularly crucial in supporting officials or leaders, who are committed to combating corruption. The movement to tackle rotten politicians, the establishment of political contracts between politicians and their constituents must be done and supported by other stakeholders.
Support from the civil society in combating corruption is actually in line with the basic idea of good governance. Good governance assumes the balance between the state, the private sector and the civil society. In fact, most of the efforts to eradicate corruption are state-oriented and give lots of support to the government, although the government does not have enough of a political will to carry it out.
As we all know that majority of the population of Pakistan is under 40 years of age. That’s why the involvement of these people in politics is very important. This is the right time. We have got free judiciary, we got free media and If we could not change the faith of our lives even now then I think we will be morally corrupt. Stop blaming elders and take some practical steps. The Question is wat kind of practical steps? For that I need your suggestions here……!
