Shahbaz poised to knock out corruption

Fertile minds are never short of innovative ideas and a visionary leadership committed to public service and welfare is capable of overcoming any crisis and eradicating any social evil. This universal truth seems quite relevant when the Punjab government launched the unique and modern system, the Citizen Feedback Model (CFBM), to stem corruption in government departments and improve service delivery at public sector organisations.
The CFBM, which uses modern telecommunication technology in a very transparent way to uproot corruption and poor management, will go a long way in improving governance and providing relief to the masses at their doorsteps. The worst kind of corruption is witnessed in police and revenue departments, and the public suffers badly at the public-sector hospitals due to poor governance. All internal departmental measures and other bureaucratic steps have turned ineffective to end corruption and improve service delivery in these sectors, but this revolutionary anti-corruption mechanism designed on modern lines seems a robust answer to public woes caused by bribes and bad performance.
The CFBM responds instantly and collects feedback from a citizen of Punjab who has visited the revenue department for property transfer or registration or called 15 emergency number for police assistance or gone to a government hospital for indoor or emergency medical treatment. That person would receive a computer generated call or SMS from no other than the zealous chief executive of the province who will inquire whether bribe was extorted and what was the status of the service. Any complaint of an ordinary citizen will set the whole provincial machinery in motion for the resolution of their problems and this process will start from the high ranking public servants, removing all procedural hiccups and traps, and bypassing all clerical hitches.
Critics and doomsday prophets should not be mistaken that this vital and landmark anti-corruption initiative is a political ploy that have been launched to win public acclaim as the general elections are drawing nearer. In fact CFBM is a well thought out initiative that has been implemented after its success in Jhang district where it was launched in 2008 and yielded positive results. Keeping in view its effectiveness and success, it has now been implemented across the province of Punjab. Within a few months of its launch, about half a million transactions have been entered in this system and about 300,000 citizens of Punjab have received automatic calls or SMS from the chief minister. About 40,000 citizens have given their feedback and reposed trust in this anti-corruption initiative. According to reports, about 10,000 persons have been contacted and 1,500 of them gave their feedback on corruption and bad governance in government departments and hospitals. This is the candid proof of the effectiveness of the system.
Making the concerned high-ranking officials concerned to contact the ordinary citizens, is the prime feature of this system that has made evident the commitment of the Punjab government to transparency and good governance. Media reports say that the Rawalpindi DCO contacted several citizens on his own when he received dozens of complaints in the domicile branch of the district management. This minor example shows how this system works and how it makes the high-ranking officials spring to action on their own on simple feedback of ordinary citizens.