Corruption in Pakistan

Corruption in Pakistan is widespread, particularly in the government and lower levels of police forces. The country has had a consistently poor ranking at the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index with scores of 2.5 in 2011, 2.3 in 2010, and 2.5 in 2009 out of 10. In 2011, Pakistan ranked 134 on the index with 42 countries ranking worse. In 2012, Pakistan's ranking dropped even further from 134 to 139, making Pakistan the 34th most corrupt country in the world, tied with Azerbaijan, Kenya, Nepal, and Nigeria.

History

Pakistan was created as a result of the partition of subcontinent and the British left behind a strong bureaucracy and army. The country was divided again when Eastern Pakistan seceded to form Bangladesh. A factor in this division was that Bengal's elite and ruling class had been Hindus who were displaced by the partition, while the Punjab's rich land-owning class were Muslims and so had retained power.

Recent events

According to calculations performed by Transparency International, Pakistan has lost an unbelievably high amount, more than Rs8.5 trillion (US $94 billion), in corruption, tax evasion and bad governance during the last four years of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s tenure. An adviser of Transparency International acknowledged that "Pakistan does not need even a single penny from the outside world if it effectively checks the menace of corruption and ensures good governance". The Transparency International also noted that the four years of the present regime under Gilani had been the worst in terms of corruption and bad governance in the country’s history.. PMDC, the medical regulatory authority,is one of the most corrupt in the world.

National Accountability Ordinance

Individuals convicted under the National Accountability Ordinance are prohibited from holding political office for ten years.

Media role in exposing corruption

Since the liberalisation of the Pakistani media in 2002, many major corruption cases and scams have been unveiled by journalists. Notable among them are:

• The Pakistan Steel Mills Rs.26 billion scam;
• National Insurance Company Limited scandal;
• Bribery and corruption in Pakistan International Airlines which caused losses of $500 million;
• Embezzlement in Pakistan Railways causing massive financial losses;
• Hajj corruption case;
• NATO containers' case where 40 containers heading for ISAF in Afghanistan went missing;
• Rental power projects corruption
• Ephedrine quota case, a scandal involving the son of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani to pressure officials of the Health Ministry to allocate a quota of controlled chemical ephedrine to two different pharmaceutical companies.
• Malik Riaz’s 'Media Gate' in which the son of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is said to have taken money from Malik Riaz to give favourable decisions from the Supreme Court.

“Malik Riaz case proved that the media can hold the judiciary and even itself accountable,” says Javed Chaudhry, columnist and anchorperson working with Express News. “This case, along with the missing persons' case has established impartiality and credibility of the media in its fight against corruption."

Corruption by sector

Courts

Further information: Court system of Pakistan

In 2010, 69% of those surveyed reported that they or someone in their household was subjected to an act of corruption when interacting with the judicial system. Of 339 affirmative respondents asked to identify the actors involved in corruption, 119 said court employees, 84 said a public prosecutor, 50 said a witness, 44 said a judge, 29 said an opponent lawyer, 16 said magistrates, and 12 said others.

Education

Further information: Education in Pakistan

As of 2010, 24% of those surveyed reported that they themselves or a family member received educational admission through non-normal. The countries biggest issue is presence of non uniform educational system.On one hand there are institutions modeled on western educational system; This system is run by private sector educational institutes that charge fees an ordinary citizen cannot afford. So essentially these institutes are utilized by the elite class( Politicians, Technocrats, Bureaucrats,Business class) .The same is also the reason for deteriorating standards of Public Sector educational institutes.As the elite class only enroll there children in private schools modeled on western institutes.

Then there are Government run public schools that face increasing challenges and due to incompetence of consecutive Governments has only accelerated the rate of their decline. Lack of funding, Elite class non utilization, Poor Governance, Under qualified Faculty are some of the reasons for their falling standards. Corruption in education sector is not a novice in Pakistan . Embezzlement of funds, Thousands of ghost schools ( those that only exist in papers), taking bribe to sell confidential material to candidates,Poor utilization of funds, Educational Ministry run by illiterate politicians that lack vision for education.

The health education regulating authority PMDC is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world. Recently they recognized a dental college in Abbottabad that never had a single dental chair.It has recognized the medical colleges that never had the faculty or even a hospital. The usual modus operandi is paying upto 10 crore (US$1.0million) in bribes to a network of lawyers and personal assistants operated by a retired major of pakistan army who was boarded out of the military since he was declared a schizophrenic. Now this schizophrenic is appointed in the organisation as a registrar maintianing two wives, one in the US. His name is maj retired ahmed nadeem akbar known king of corruption (see how he defied an FIA inquiry due to his connections with the son of chief justice of the supreme court of pakistan, )as he seen regularly seen attending CJ's family functions. He is the main conduit of billions of ruppees of kickbacks taken in the past eight years.His main sponsor is dr shaheena jamil owner of fmc recently involved in torturing of PIMS doctors that resultantly went on strike.<www.dunyanews.com>/ The king of corruption has destroyed the legitimacy of medical practitioner's degree recognizing institution in this thirld world country.

Health care

Further information: Health care in Pakistan

In 2010, 42% of surveyed individuals reported gaining access to hospital services by a method other than standard admission, and 48% reported either having to pay additional costs for essential services or being forced to utilize the services of a designated affiliate. Of the respondents who were asked to identify which parties orchestrated the corrupt acts, 61% reported hospital staff, 25% reported doctors, and 13% reported nurses.

Law enforcement and the police

Further information: Law enforcement in Pakistan

Corruption is evident in the lower levels of the police in Pakistan. In fact, many citizens believe that the police is the most corrupt sector of the Pakistani government. In July 2010, the Transparency International noted that the major cause for corruption in this sector was due to the lack of accountability and merit, and low salaries. Payment of bribes in order to escape and avoid charges was also commonplace; 31% of 4,224 respondents reported paying bribes to the police.

In 2005, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered an investigation into claims by a 23-year-old woman who alleged that, in retaliation for attempting to reveal police corruption, police falsely detained her for fifteen days and raped her.

As of 2010, videos captured of officers taking bribes in various locales such as Peshawar and Quetta have been uploaded to YouTube.

Public utilities

Further information: Electricity sector in Pakistan

As of 2002, 96% of surveyed individuals reported corruption issues with electrical utility officials during the past year. The most common types of corruption were billing related. Some consumers admitted to illegally reducing their utility bills, while others reported being harassed with inflated bills intended to solicit bribes. Out of the pool of corruption-affirmative respondents, 71% reported that money was "demanded directly by the actor". Corruption is the prime reason behind the economical unstableness. Corruption has spread into the world and has ruined the economy. Just as a weed spread in the field and affect the yield of the crop. Corruption is the mother of other problem such as unemployment which will be discussed later. According to latest report of Transparency International, Pakistan has been ranked at 42nd number among the most corrupt nations of the world. From clerical staff to higher offices and administrator, all are involved in corruption of one kind or the other. Corruption in government departments is so much deep-rooted that a common concept prevails that the system doesn’t let honest people to work peacefully. There is a lack of responsibility due to which wealthy people and those in power are sure that they can’t be held responsible for their deeds. So they keep on looting the national treasures and find ways to legalize their black-money. Many corrupt people don’t even bother to do that.

Sports

See also: Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal

In August 2010, reporters from News of the World orchestrated a sting operation which was able to identify three Pakistani cricket players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – and a bookmaker Mazhar Majeed of being complacent in a row over spot-fixing in the fourth England-Pakistan test match at Lord's. The cricketers each received 30 months, one year and six months jail term respectively while the bookmaker received two years and eight months jail term in a verdict issued by the Southwark Crown Court on November 3, 2011. Following these events, on 15 November 2011, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Zaka Ashraf established an anti-corruption unit to prevent players from becoming involved in illegal betting practices.

Taxation

Further information: Taxation in Pakistan

According to the 2002 study, 99% of 256 respondents reported facing corruption of taxation. Furthermore, 32% of respondents reported paying bribes to have their tax assessment lowered, and nearly 14% reported receiving fictitious tax assessments until a bribe was paid.

See also

• Government of Pakistan
• Asif Ali Zardari

Further reading

• "National Corruption Perception Survey, 2010" (PDF). Transparency International–Pakistan. 2010-06-01.
• "How Integrity Pacts Helped Generate Market Competition in Pakistan" (PDF). Transparency International–Pakistan.
• "Annual Report on Pakistan" (PDF). Transparency International–Pakistan. 2009.

External links

• Corruption in Pakistan at Transparency International–Pakistan