Corruption on decline in Pakistan: TI report

Transparency International (TI) has observed that corruption in Pakistan has reduced during the current year, credit of which has been given to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament, Judiciary and the Defence Ministry for applying PPRA Rules. According to the report, Pakistan 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index score was 2.5 out of 10, and ranked as 42nd most corrupt country out of 183 countries. In 2010 its score was 2.3, and rank was 34th most corrupt country out 178 countries. New Zealand is ranked first, followed by Finland and Denmark. Somalia and North Korea have been included in the index for the first time, are last number.

The index scored 183 countries and territories from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information etc. "The appreciation of the corruption problem in Pakistan is a good sign. Now we need strong action to make our public institutions more accountable to citizens," said Transparency International Pakistan Chairman Sohail Muzaffar. According to him, signs of progress in Pakistan included good performance of PAC, which recovered Rs 115 billion from 2008-2011, the introduction of a Judicial Policy in 2009, which announced "zero-tolerance for corruption in judiciary", Ministry of Defence efforts to apply long-standing public Procurement Rules 2004 in the armed forces departments and institutions such as Federal Tax Ombudsman considered as one of the cleanest institutions. However, this progress has been overshadowed by ongoing corruption cases--the NICL, RPP and 2010 Hajj scandal in which the Supreme Court effected recoveries of billions of rupees. Transparency International''s 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) shows some government''s failing to protect citizens from corruption, be it abuse of public resources, bribery or secretive decision-making.

Transparency International warned that protests around the world, often fuelled by corruption and economic instability, clearly show citizens feel their leaders and public institutions are neither transparent nor accountable enough. "This year, we have seen corruption on protestors'' banners, be they rich or poor. Whether in Europe hit by debt crisis or Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must pay heed to the demands for better government," said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.