Dr.
Vaqar Ahmed lists ways in which ordinary citizens can help counter corruption
in the country.
This
piece is not about another bullet point agenda that directs our governments to
take action against corruption. In fact we start with the assumption that
federal and provincial governments and their executive branches know very well
how to curb corrupt behaviours – yet they don’t do so.
A
new stream of discourse argues the need for civil society to exert organized
pressure in a manner that forces the elected representatives and their
implementing arm (civil service) to remain within bounds. This articleprovides
ways in which civil society can create an impact.
"Innovative
ideas such as www.ipaidbribe.pk/ which lets you post your daily life experience
with anyone forcing you to pay irregular payments towards facilitating your
right."
Let
us start with innovative ideas such as www.ipaidbribe.pk which lets you post
your daily life experience with anyone forcing you to pay irregular payments
towards facilitating your right. Such forums are trying hard to uncover the
market price of corruption and bring this distortion into the limelight through
print and electronic media. It was this website where people first started
exchanging views about how regional passport offices in Pakistan were now
demanding bribes in order to facilitate an early retrieval of passport
booklets. Having such forums in fact allows for documenting what works and what
does not when dealing with corruption.
Talking
of the public sector brings us to another important role that civil society
ought to play. We need to demand that proceedings of public sector (ministries,
government departments and public sector enterprises) be audited by the Auditor
General’s office and should be presented first to the parliament and then to
the general public without any time lag. Based on these proceedings and
findings civil society can start evaluating the government’s performance. This
will also allow independent think tanks in the country to monitor corruption at
fairly frequent intervals.
Malpractices
in procurement of services or even recruitment of public officials need to be
checked on an urgent basis. The pressures on federal and provincial public service
commissions are all very well known. There are vast numbers of positions in the
public sector in which public service commissions are not even in the loop.
Such irregular appointments are not limited to adhoc selections but also
permanent positions many of which are in the public sector corporations which
are bleeding the national exchequer. The losses of public sector enterprises
crossed PKR 1500 billion in the past 2 years. These enterprises include Pepco,
Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills,
Utility Stores Corporation, Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Pakistan
Agricultural Storage & Supplies Corporation as well as the National Highway
Authority. While the focus on public administration is important we should not
neglect corporate governance in the public sector.
One
should also identify the arbitrariness in the system. This arbitrariness helps
to institutionalize corruption across the government machinery. For example the
regime of allotment of government land, plots and other entitlements to public
sector employees is a system that is rarely documented and evaluated by
external auditors. When officials block prime commercial land for their own
entitlements business incentives are erased. Pakistan’s national accountability
framework is driven by National Accountability Bureau, Federal Investigation
Authority and Anti-corruption departments in the provinces. However emphasis is
entirely on enforcement and very little on prevention.
Another
important step in organizing civil society is to strengthen consumer rights
groups. There are substantial inequalities of incomes, consumptions and asset
holding in the country which can be curtailed through ensuring transparency and
fairness in goods and labour markets. The macro level institutions such as
Competition Commission of Pakistan (and other regulatory bodies) and micro
level institutions such as price committees need to be: a) strengthened in
capacity, b) safeguarded from human interference and c) allowed empowerment with
accountability. Civil society can play a role in demanding each of these three
measures.
Some
rent-seeking entrepreneurs help strengthen a system where arbitrariness
blossoms. This happens at the cost of genuine investors for whom the demand for
bribe awaits at every step of entry, operation or exit. Many such members of
the business community form the core of our tax paying brass. However with no
tax payers’ rights cell in the country, our revenue departments at federal and
provincial levels are not held accountable for the revenue lost due to corrupt
practices of tax officials. The example of telecommunications sector in
Pakistan is a classic example of busting sector-wide corruption. Privatization
and deregulation in the telecommunications sector took the discretionary powers
away from the government, introduced competition in this sector and today we
see that the same landline connection that used to take decades to reach the
applicants house has been stumped by a mobile phone connection available even
with people who live below the poverty line in Pakistan.
“The
civil society also has an opportunity to use independent media in helping to
curtail corruption. For this to happen investigative journalism needs to be
promoted.”
The
civil society also has an opportunity to use independent media in helping to
curtail corruption. For this to happen investigative journalism needs to be
promoted. The civil society institutions can take a lead in developing this
cadre and then providing research assistance to media entities. We already see
the encouraging example of Pakistan Social Accountability Network (PSAN) whose
members devise actions towards demand-side and community-based accountability
mechanisms in order to improve service delivery at the grass roots levels.
Finally
the civil society needs to be assertive and ensure follow up with
accountability departments in the country so that examples can be established.
The chain smoker very well knows that this practice is injurious for health,
yet many continue to smoke. So awareness alone is not enough and tough
precedents should be set and examples must be established.
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