The systemic corruption that is eating our institutions from the inside
Corruption is generally defined as misuse of entrusted power or authority by the elected politicians or appointed civil servants for private gains. It usually entails embezzlement of funds, nepotism, kickbacks, bribery as well as deliberate attempts to perpetuate a system with inbuilt avenues of corruption, graft and entitlement. Corruption has many forms but the major cause of concerns are the systemic corruption and political corruption which germinate other forms of corruption that eat into the social and economic fiber of a country besides generating social tensions and hampering its socio-economic progress.
Political corruption occurs at the highest level of the political system, usually at the policy formulation level when politicians and state agents, entitled to make and enforce laws in the name of the people, use their position to sustain their power, status and wealth leading to misallocation of resources and perversion of the process of decision making. Systemic or endemic corruption is an integrated and essential aspect of the economic, social and political system prevalent in a country, embedded in a wider situation that helps to sustain it. It is universally recognised that corruption invariably is related to lack of good governance and the degree of corruption in a society or a country depends on the level of good governance attained by a particular country. It is social phenomenon permeating the entire world though with varying degrees.
In fact the bane of social and economic progress in Pakistan has been the political and systemic corruption. A survey conducted by a social group recently revealed that half of the land and property in Islamabad is owned either by the politicians or the bureaucrats, acquired through political and systemic corruption. The rulers both belonging to the military and political class have indulged in reckless corruption with the help of bureaucracy. The bureaucracy taking advantage of unethical and illegal practices of the rulers, made possible by the systemic inadequacies, has also been extracting undue advantages from the rulers as a reward for their connivance in serving their vested interests.
A classic example of systemic corruption is the policy of allotment of two plots to the grade-22 officers of the federal government in Islamabad. It was during the premiership of Shaukat Aziz that bureaucracy manoeuvred the submission of a summary to the prime minister proposing gifting of two plots to the federal secretaries which was approved instantly. These plots with a market price of millions of rupees are given to them at throw away prices making them millionaires overnight. It is pertinent to mention here that these plots are in addition to the one that they invariably get from the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation. This is just one example of the systemic corruption. There are also other infinite avenues of systemic corruption in the country.
It is therefore not surprising that Pakistan has always enjoyed the dubious distinction of being among the most corrupt countries in the world and remained perched on higher rungs of the corruption perception index (CPI) issued by Transparency International every year. The feudal character of the system of governance, a legacy of the colonial era, is mainly responsible for this menace as it promotes a culture of graft and entitlement.
Nevertheless it is encouraging to note that the Transparency International report for the year 2013 reflects a drop in corruption in Pakistan by ten points as compared to 2012. This development is undoubtedly a result of the measures initiated by the PML-N government to plug the avenues of corruption. It has taken a number of steps to curtail discretionary powers of the government functionaries at different levels as well as abolished discretionary and secret funds at the disposal of the ministries that promoted and encouraged corruption besides initiating austerity measures.
Reportedly, the prime minister has also ordered the discontinuation of the policy of allotment of two plots to the bureaucrats. He has cancelled the allotment of two dozens plots made to the bureaucrats recently and also ordered an inquiry into the illegal and controversial allotments made in the past. Indications are that those who were allotted plots in the past would be asked to pay the market price of the plots to the government. That indeed is a major and bold decision taken by the prime minister to close down one of the easiest avenues of corruption available to the powerful bureaucracy.
It is hoped that the prime minister while keeping up this good work would also pay heed to the affairs of the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) and CDA who are the hubs of systemic corruption in regards to allotment of plots. In both these organisations residential plots are allotted to their employees in complete disregard to the general policy of allotment of plots to the government employees on the basis of seniority with regard to their date of births. Rules have been bent to defy this principle to benefit the employees and the officers serving in these organisations. Another blatant practice of corruption is the allotment of plots to the persons who serve on deputations for three years in both these entities. Hundreds and thousands of government officers and employees with connections have benefited from this detestable practice.
The FGEHF which was established to solve the housing problems of the federal government employees has also allotted plots to journalists and other persons in violation of its mandate and objective of its establishment. The result is that thousands of government employees who could have been allotted residential plots on the basis of their age seniority have retired, depriving them of their legitimate rights. The best course to rectify the situation and ending the systemic corruption in this regard would be to ask the FGEHF to strictly adhere to the policy of allotment of plots in different categories only to the federal government employees on the basis of birth seniority and also to accommodate all the retired persons, who are still alive, in their future housing schemes on priority basis.
A policy of allotment of plot to each and every government servant like it is done in the army also needs to be adopted to meet the demands of social justice. There is also a need to extend a similar approach to identify avenues of systemic corruption in other areas of our administrative and bureaucratic structure and initiate a process of reforms designed to eliminate this cancerous affliction.
Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. He can be contacted at: [email protected].
