“Corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the modern era,”NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhary said while addressing a ceremony at the Pak Secretariat, Islamabad, on Wednesday.
He quoted Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who said: “One of the biggest curses is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison. We must put it down with an iron hand”.
“The NAB is essentially a complaint-driven organisation which was established to eradicate corruption and it has adopted a proactive approach to curb corruption in the country. During the last 16 years it has received 326,694 complaints from individuals and private/public organisations,” the chairman said.
During this period the NAB authorised 10,992 complaint verifications, 7,303 inquiries, 3,648 investigations, and filed 2,667 corruption references in respective accountability courts with an overall conviction rate of 76 percent.
Qamar Zaman said that to create awareness against the ill effects of corruption among the youth of Pakistan, the National Accountability Bureau has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
Over 42, 000 character building societies (CBSs) have been established with the help of the NAB and the HEC in educational institutions during the last year to create awareness against corruption.
The NAB has also established its first forensic science lab (FSL) in Rawalpindi. The forensic science lab has facilities of digital forensics, questioned documents and fingerprint analysis.