Corruption in Sindh to be dealt through drastic measures: Qaim

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali said that corruption was pervasive in their society and government ranks but they had to stop it through drastic measures. Its actual solution lied in enhancing literacy ratio for which the Sindh government was working hard, he added.

The chief minister stated this while presiding over a meeting of Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) at the CM House on Thursday. Minister for Home Sohial Siyal, Anti-Corruption Chairman Syed Mumtaz Shah and Principal Secretary to CM Alamuddin Bullo and other concerned officers attended the meeting.

The chief minister said that he was working hard to stop corrupt practices in the provincial government departments. That’s why he was reviewing it progress off and on, he added. “We have a good team in ACE led by home minister and it has delivered considerably,” he said.

ACE Chairman Mumtaz Shah said that from January 2016 to March 31, 2016, his team made 22 surprise visits, conducted 41 raids, made nine traps and arrested 82 government officials by registering 62 FIRs in nine districts of the province, including Karachi East, West, South, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sukkur and Larkana.

He said in the past challans were not submitted to the courts but this time the ACE had submitted 65 challans during first quarter of 2016 and so far four officials, including one in South and three in Hyderabad, had been convicted.

The ACE chairman while giving department-wise details said that 82 officers/officials arrested belonged to 28 different departments. Nine of them belonged to the home department and 18 were from revenue, 14 from education, four from food, four from excise and taxation, five from health, one from zakat and ushr, two from livestock and fisheries, one from cooperative, two from irrigation, each one from forest, law, works and services population, sports, katchi abadies and safety commission, four from public health engineering, five from registration, two from universities and one officers belonged to sports department, he added.

He said the ACE had opened inquiries against 373 inquiries against more than 400 officials/officers. The inquiries were being conducted by dedicated officers, he added. The chief minister said that impartial inquiries should be conducted without harassing any officer. He urged Minister Sohail Siyal to personally ensure that no officer was harassed illegally.

Sohail said that he had allowed the ACE to function freely. “We have adopted a non-interference policy in the ACE and it is working freely and independently, and producing good results,” he said.