LAHORE: There is much hype in the electronic and print media about corruption in Pakistan, but this menace persisted even before the independence and is not a new phenomenon. Once during his speech to a general public meeting, Quaid-e-Azam had said that the policeman still not had stopped taking four ana bribe from vendors and the policemen on the occasion just sneered at his comments. However, the officials were generally shy of taking bribe in open because they did not want to be identified as corrupt in society. A point was clear in their minds that it was wrong to take bribe, but corruption took a big leap in the later years when it had been institutionalised gradually in many government departments. Unfortunately, many government officials from social sector to service sector organisation cannot claim that they have never been involved in corruption during any point of time in the service period. Those officials who refuse to become part of the corrupt system are either sent home or deployed at unimportant places in the department. It seems corruption is no more an evil, but a facility for the general public to get their genuine works done without any trouble. A recent study by The ONE Campaign, an international non-government organisation, says that $1 trillion is being taken out of poor countries annually through shady deals, money laundering and tax evasion. The ONE Campaign says that curbing corruption in a few African countries can provide money to educate an extra 10 million children a year. Money recovered from corrupt activities can pay the salaries of an additional 500,000 primary schoolteachers in Africa, provide antiretroviral drugs for more than 11 million people living with HIV and fund nearly 165 million vaccine shots. No doubt corruption is a global phenomenon, but the government in every country tries its best to curb this menace in the basic level. Regarding Pakistan, black sheep in judicial system and ruling elite are not even take corruption as a sin but a social norm. However, various groups and NGOs in Pakistan and all over the world are trying to curtail corruption. It is unfortunate that the federal and as well provincial governments have started introducing new laws to control corruption, but these kinds of steps only increase the rates of corruption and provide disservice to the people. There is a need to strengthen the existing laws and increase capacity-building of the government institutions.
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