ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said on Wednesday that Rs 2.793 billion were recovered from corrupt elements and deposited in the national exchequer last year.
Briefing the last year performance of NAB at a Forum ‘NAB and Challenges of Corruption in Pakistan’ organized by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) here, he said that the Bureau received 19,997 complaints out of which 19989 were disposed of.
He said that the performance of the NAB improved by 54 percent in 2014 as compared to 2013. He further informed that 1,517 inquiries were initiated against corrupt people out of which 585 have been completed.
The Chairman said that a total of 208 references were filed in the Accountability courts during 2014, adding the culprits in 44 cases were awarded punishment, while verdict of 26 cases was announced in favor of the accused.
Briefing the participants about awareness and prevention activities of the NAB, he said that NAB and Higher Education Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create awareness among students of universities and colleges against the corruption through character building societies programme.
In collaboration with Postal Department, a commemorative ticket printed with NAB message ‘Say no to corruption’ was issued, he added.
Giving the detail of prevention measures, he said that till now, 18 committees have been constituted which are preparing their recommendations under relevant sections of Accountability Ordinances.
The latest committee would submit its proposals for eradication of tax theft; he said and added, “We will try to include these recommendations in the next budget”.
He said that the NAB issued necessary instruction in 522 cases of violations of PPRA rules during advertisements of government tenders during year 2014 in a bid to ensure transparency.
Declaring corruption, a political, social and economic issue, he said it is main hurdle on the way of development and prosperity of the country.
The Chairman said that NAB’s performance is improving after adopting a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) through a consultative process since last year.
He informed that prosecution department has enhanced pace of work and after the completion of investigation process, the cases of grand scandals including Rental Power Projects (RPPs), Steel Mills and National Insurance Company Limited etc have been forwarded to Accountability Courts.
Qamar Zaman said that the NAB has prepared a law for the protection of whistle blowers as well.
The Chairman commended PILDAT’s efforts towards strengthening the state institutions through reviewing their performance in an objective manner.
He said that corruption is a complex problem that affects development of both democratic and economic institutions.
Alongside, the Chairman NAB, Dr. Munir Ahmed, Founding President of the Islamic Countries Society of Statistical Sciences, Brig (Retd.) Musaddiq Abbasi, former Director General, Awareness and Prevention NAB, and Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT, spoke at the Forum.
