In Pakistan, one senator seat is sold for crores of rupees. The senators are nominated and voted for by the parliamentarians, who charge these rich technocrats 5-10 crore rupees to get their votes and become a senator for the Government of Pakistan.
After paying such a huge amount for a job, any person would have only one agenda in their job, to somehow make this money back and also accumulate enough for the next election, payment for another win. With such a mindset how can we end corruption?
The senators do get lots of chances from the government to make money, like weapon license quotas which are sold to the highest bidder etc. They get free cars, free protocol (sometimes consisting of 10 cars) and many other VIP treatments at the expense of the public.
The senators and parliamentarians also get job quotas, which they sell as well. Each seat is sold for 8-20 Lakh Rupees in KPK these days. The person who buys this seat becomes a government servant. This person then starts their new job with the resolve to first make up the loan of 8-20 lakh Rupees that they have for getting their new job. With such a vicious cycle how can we stop corruption in the government?
A possible solution could be to stop giving parliamentarians and senators special quotas; they should not be allowed VIP treatment or any special privileges. In the UK and Other EU countries, their representatives go to work on the public transport and even ride to work on bicycles. Once these government servants are treated like common citizens, then they won’t be able to get away with such corruption.
ROHAIL BASEER
Peshawar
