by: Dr. Shimail Daud
We all complain about corruption and how its a malice for the society. But it is interesting to note that how it gets everyone involved and gradually you become part of the sinking ship.
When a crime occurs the affected party goes to the law enforcement agency which in this case is usually the civil police of the area. They try to file a FIR with the police. Usually the police has a very interesting self protective mechanism at hand. First deny that the crime occurred, if the complainant is persistent then try to stir the situation that the blame would fall on any party so that the complainant keeps on pursuing the wrong direction. But you have to remember in the process of confusion the FIR never gets lodged due to premise that the situation and facts are not clear. Who do you think is the beneficiary in this of course the culprit who has ample time to get away or fix his circumstances to the effect that he would not be apprehended by any one. The other beneficiary of course is the police representative who by entangling the situation can make a living out of it by extorting money from both sides. The funds keep on flowing till the manipulation continues.
Supposedly you are an average person minding your own business lets say you run a store in the city or town. One of these days a car gets stolen from the parking space in front of your shop. The next day you find out that your poor guard that was performing his duties of guarding you and your property last night has been detained by the local police officer for questioning. The investigation should begin from the local area as the normal protocol would have it. Yes so now you find out that you and your guards don’t have any clue and neither are they responsible for the car lifting but since the complainant does not have any where to unleash his wrath its your turn to pay the price. What do you do? What every other bloke would, pay the uniformed person (oops sorry in civil clothes these days) in order to stay out of this chaotic mess.
So what can we learn from this. Most of the people are not corrupt from birth and have loving human nature. However when the system enforces a perverse incentive for people to save their skin, business and loved ones from the ill intentions of the unguided it becomes a learned behavior. This negative behavior by any societies definition becomes ingrained and innate as more feedback comes back to the new in the negatively filled society.
I would put it that everyone has to pay one way or the other for the weaknesses in our system and people who manage it and we pay it through our lost property, loss of life, morbidity and of course by the disturbance and harassment that comes with it.
We all need to stand up in our own way and little that we can do outside the system that can break the cycle. But my message is that spread the positive message of resisting and if everyone of us does a little bit to resist the cummulative impact comes out huge. Can you do it for I am!
(experiences from personal life!)
Compliments: http://pakistandesk.com/
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Pakistani media face a crisis of ethics
Tom Hussain, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: June 16. 2009 12:36AM UAE / June 15. 2009 8:36PM GMT
Pakistani TV cameramen are seen next to a soldier of Pakistan's army holding a Rocket Propelled Grenade near Loisam town in the Bajur tribal region. Emilio Morenatti / AFP ISLAMABAD // Pakistan’s news media is coming under increasing fire for its questionable ethics, not from its usual critics in the government, but from within its own ranks.
At the heart of the debate that has been raging for months on journalists’ blogs such as PKPolitics.com and FriendsKorner.com, is the widely perceived pro-government bias of many popular current affairs programme hosts and newspaper columnists.
Often, the host and columnist are, in fact, one and the same, a coincidence that a growing number of journalists find disturbing because of the extraordinary influence and subsequent room for abuse this blurred line affords.
“The leading political chat show hosts all open their shows with statements like ‘today, we will create a consensus’ or ‘today, we will establish …’. In fact, they are declaring their intention to stuff their own political agenda down the guests’ throats, failing which they invariably humiliate them,” said Zafar Malik, a former head of news and current affairs at two cable news channels, CNBC Pakistan and Samaa.
Like many journalists who took up their trade during the unforgiving military dictatorship of Gen Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, Mr Malik is saddened by the decline in ethics that has accompanied a rapid expansion in the number of privately owned news channels since 2002.
Ironically, the decision to open the floodgates was taken by Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s then -military dictator, who concluded that appeased media proprietors would prove useful allies in his subsequent quest to extend his extra-constitutional rule.
Far from being naïve, he had every reason to believe the strategy would work.
The state had at its disposal a formidable array of carrots with which to buy the loyalty of journalists, including quotas of cut-price residential plots in government and military property developments that, on average, guarantee the recipient an instant 400 per cent ¬return on investment.
Such above-board perks – the plot scheme was sanctioned by the journalists union – were supplemented by covert incentives, including large sums of cash provided by the intelligence agencies during times of political crisis; several anchors said they were offered three million rupees each before the February 2008 general elections to be sympathetic to pro-Musharraf candidates.
“There is no dearth of corrupt people in the Pakistani media. Some are corrupted with plots, some with overseas junkets, and some are on the payrolls of intelligence agencies and political parties, but there is no accountability for any of them,” said Ansar Abbasi, investigations editor of The News, an English newspaper.
However, corruption of the media – a strategy pursued with equal vigour by democratic governments before and after the Musharraf regime – was doomed to failure because of the intense competition between the channels Mr Musharraf had helped to create. Ultimately, the news media played a decisive role in forcing him to resign last year and his successor to the presidency, Asif Ali Zardari, to reinstate the country’s chief justice in March.
The channels and their newspaper associates (cross-media ownership is the norm), it seemed, had just cause to celebrate their success in stirring the public conscience into upholding the independence of the judiciary.
But their subsequent coverage of the militant insurgency in north-west Pakistan has since exposed shortcomings, particularly a tendency to perpetuate a sense of crisis in the rush to be first to break the story, a process that more often than not ignores the “three-source confirmation” rule of objective reporting.
A typical example was the terrorist storming of a police training school in Lahore in March, when channels boosted the number of victims to 27 before retreating to the actual figure of eight, plus three militants.
“The media blows everything out of proportion” is a quote that has become attributable to many of Pakistan’s avid television watchers and, ironically, has given rise to the new “News, responsibly” slogan of PTV News, the state channel.
An inadvertent but positive outcome of the recent boom in the Pakistani media is that younger, more idealistic journalists have earned rapid promotions and it is they who have begun to challenge the corruption and one-upmanship undermining their profession.
Mohammed Ahmed Noorani, a reporter for The News, helped set the tone this year by telephoning a top Urdu newspaper columnist and asking him to confirm or deny allegations that he had accepted bribes in cash and kind from the government. While the story was never published, he posted a recording of the apparently inebriated columnist’s abusive response on the Web that instantly became a rallying cry for others.
Mr Abbasi, his senior colleague at The News, took the next step by issuing a public statement of regret for having acquired residential plots in government schemes and returning the title deeds, prompting several other high profile journalists to ¬follow suit.
Optimists see this as a harbinger of better things to come, but concede that change will be slow.
“The point is that the more you open up, the less room for manoeuvre there will be for journalists with vested interests,” said Nadeem Malik, a current affairs host for Aaj News. “I think the media is heading in that direction, but it needs more time and qualitative competition to attain ethical maturity.”
thussain@thenational.ae
Last Updated: June 16. 2009 12:36AM UAE / June 15. 2009 8:36PM GMT
Pakistani TV cameramen are seen next to a soldier of Pakistan's army holding a Rocket Propelled Grenade near Loisam town in the Bajur tribal region. Emilio Morenatti / AFP ISLAMABAD // Pakistan’s news media is coming under increasing fire for its questionable ethics, not from its usual critics in the government, but from within its own ranks.
At the heart of the debate that has been raging for months on journalists’ blogs such as PKPolitics.com and FriendsKorner.com, is the widely perceived pro-government bias of many popular current affairs programme hosts and newspaper columnists.
Often, the host and columnist are, in fact, one and the same, a coincidence that a growing number of journalists find disturbing because of the extraordinary influence and subsequent room for abuse this blurred line affords.
“The leading political chat show hosts all open their shows with statements like ‘today, we will create a consensus’ or ‘today, we will establish …’. In fact, they are declaring their intention to stuff their own political agenda down the guests’ throats, failing which they invariably humiliate them,” said Zafar Malik, a former head of news and current affairs at two cable news channels, CNBC Pakistan and Samaa.
Like many journalists who took up their trade during the unforgiving military dictatorship of Gen Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, Mr Malik is saddened by the decline in ethics that has accompanied a rapid expansion in the number of privately owned news channels since 2002.
Ironically, the decision to open the floodgates was taken by Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s then -military dictator, who concluded that appeased media proprietors would prove useful allies in his subsequent quest to extend his extra-constitutional rule.
Far from being naïve, he had every reason to believe the strategy would work.
The state had at its disposal a formidable array of carrots with which to buy the loyalty of journalists, including quotas of cut-price residential plots in government and military property developments that, on average, guarantee the recipient an instant 400 per cent ¬return on investment.
Such above-board perks – the plot scheme was sanctioned by the journalists union – were supplemented by covert incentives, including large sums of cash provided by the intelligence agencies during times of political crisis; several anchors said they were offered three million rupees each before the February 2008 general elections to be sympathetic to pro-Musharraf candidates.
“There is no dearth of corrupt people in the Pakistani media. Some are corrupted with plots, some with overseas junkets, and some are on the payrolls of intelligence agencies and political parties, but there is no accountability for any of them,” said Ansar Abbasi, investigations editor of The News, an English newspaper.
However, corruption of the media – a strategy pursued with equal vigour by democratic governments before and after the Musharraf regime – was doomed to failure because of the intense competition between the channels Mr Musharraf had helped to create. Ultimately, the news media played a decisive role in forcing him to resign last year and his successor to the presidency, Asif Ali Zardari, to reinstate the country’s chief justice in March.
The channels and their newspaper associates (cross-media ownership is the norm), it seemed, had just cause to celebrate their success in stirring the public conscience into upholding the independence of the judiciary.
But their subsequent coverage of the militant insurgency in north-west Pakistan has since exposed shortcomings, particularly a tendency to perpetuate a sense of crisis in the rush to be first to break the story, a process that more often than not ignores the “three-source confirmation” rule of objective reporting.
A typical example was the terrorist storming of a police training school in Lahore in March, when channels boosted the number of victims to 27 before retreating to the actual figure of eight, plus three militants.
“The media blows everything out of proportion” is a quote that has become attributable to many of Pakistan’s avid television watchers and, ironically, has given rise to the new “News, responsibly” slogan of PTV News, the state channel.
An inadvertent but positive outcome of the recent boom in the Pakistani media is that younger, more idealistic journalists have earned rapid promotions and it is they who have begun to challenge the corruption and one-upmanship undermining their profession.
Mohammed Ahmed Noorani, a reporter for The News, helped set the tone this year by telephoning a top Urdu newspaper columnist and asking him to confirm or deny allegations that he had accepted bribes in cash and kind from the government. While the story was never published, he posted a recording of the apparently inebriated columnist’s abusive response on the Web that instantly became a rallying cry for others.
Mr Abbasi, his senior colleague at The News, took the next step by issuing a public statement of regret for having acquired residential plots in government schemes and returning the title deeds, prompting several other high profile journalists to ¬follow suit.
Optimists see this as a harbinger of better things to come, but concede that change will be slow.
“The point is that the more you open up, the less room for manoeuvre there will be for journalists with vested interests,” said Nadeem Malik, a current affairs host for Aaj News. “I think the media is heading in that direction, but it needs more time and qualitative competition to attain ethical maturity.”
thussain@thenational.ae
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pak Ministry of Defence Contractors involved in deception and misappropriation
Contractors involved in misappropriation: ministry asked to stop making purchases
Business Recorder
1st April 2009
ISLAMABAD (April 01 2009): The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of National Assembly on Tuesday directed Ministry of Defence Production to stop buying from contractors involved in deception and misappropriation. The PAC meeting chaired by its chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan reviewed the audit reports of the ministry for the year 2005-06.
Audit reports revealed that a loss of Rs 24.960 million was incurred to the government due to two contracts of skimmed milk powder in Pakistan Mission at Paris. It showed that one company failed to provide 500 ton milk powder within stipulated period of time, while 138 tons milk powder out of total 189 provided by the other company was unfit for human consumption.
Nisar directed the ministry to improve the system for awarding the contracts and blacklist the companies failing to deliver. The ministry was also asked to give due importance to the observations of audit authorities.
Earlier, the audit authorities besides other reports informed the PAC panel about unauthorised investment of Rs 90 million government money in profit and loss term deposit scheme by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra. Chairman Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra said that the fund was utilised as it was not meant to be used immediately.
Nisar said that rules and regulations must be followed in any case. He directed the concerned authorities to regularise the matter through Ministry of Defence Production within one month. He also directed Secretary Ministry of Defence Production to ask all the departments under him to inform him about all the legal cases related to contracts with different firms. He also asked him to revisit the contracting system so that in future no contractor can deceive the ministry.
Business Recorder
1st April 2009
ISLAMABAD (April 01 2009): The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of National Assembly on Tuesday directed Ministry of Defence Production to stop buying from contractors involved in deception and misappropriation. The PAC meeting chaired by its chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan reviewed the audit reports of the ministry for the year 2005-06.
Audit reports revealed that a loss of Rs 24.960 million was incurred to the government due to two contracts of skimmed milk powder in Pakistan Mission at Paris. It showed that one company failed to provide 500 ton milk powder within stipulated period of time, while 138 tons milk powder out of total 189 provided by the other company was unfit for human consumption.
Nisar directed the ministry to improve the system for awarding the contracts and blacklist the companies failing to deliver. The ministry was also asked to give due importance to the observations of audit authorities.
Earlier, the audit authorities besides other reports informed the PAC panel about unauthorised investment of Rs 90 million government money in profit and loss term deposit scheme by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra. Chairman Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra said that the fund was utilised as it was not meant to be used immediately.
Nisar said that rules and regulations must be followed in any case. He directed the concerned authorities to regularise the matter through Ministry of Defence Production within one month. He also directed Secretary Ministry of Defence Production to ask all the departments under him to inform him about all the legal cases related to contracts with different firms. He also asked him to revisit the contracting system so that in future no contractor can deceive the ministry.
Transparency International Pakistan on Corruption
PRESS RELEASE
Transparency International Pakistan
5 C, 2nd Floor, Khy-e-Ittehad, Phase VII,
DHA, Karachi
Wednesday 3rd June, 2009
Media Contacts: Karachi
Syed Adil Gilani
Tel: 021-5390408-9
Cell: 0321-8229086
Fax: 021-5390410
Email: ti.pakistan@gmail.com
Website: www.transparency.org.pk
Global corruption survey finds growing distrust of business Political parties and the Civil Service are perceived on average to be the most corrupt sectors around the world Berlin / Brussels, Karachi 3 June 2009 – The private sector uses bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations, believe over half of those polled for 2009 Global Corruption Barometer. The Barometer, a global public opinion survey released today by Transparency International (TI), also found that half of respondents expressed a willingness to pay a premium to buy from corruption-free companies.
“These results show a public sobered by a financial crisis precipitated by weak regulations and a lack of corporate accountability,” said Transparency International Chair, Huguette Labelle. “But we also see that the public is willing to actively support clean business. What is needed now is bold action by companies to continue strengthening their policies and practices, and to report more transparently on finances and interactions with government.”
The Barometer, with more than 73,000 respondents drawn from 69 countries and territories around the world, also found the poor to be disproportionately burdened by bribe demands. And it found that government efforts to combat corruption are generally perceived as ineffective, in addition to high levels of perceived corruption in political parties, parliaments and the civil service.
Syed Adil Gilani, Chairman Transparency International Pakistan said that the resistance towards anticorruption measures from the public servant is has pushed Pakistan to its present position as one of the most corrupt country and also perceived to be a breeding ground of terrorists. Corruption in spending the US $ 11 billion aid given by US from 2002 to 2007 for fighting terrorism, has not only failed , but infact it has caused suicide bombing, which has never occurred before 2002.
Political parties and the civil service are perceived on average to be the most corrupt sectors around the world
Figure 1 Single institution/sector perceived to be most affected by corruption, overall results
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Fieldwork was conducted between October 2008 and March 2009. As a public opinion survey, the Barometer reflects the views of a representative sample of each country’s population aged 16 and over In each country, the polling method was based on local conditions. Methods included face to face, telephone and online interviews.
Government anti-corruption efforts seen as ineffective
Most of those polled also felt that existing channels for making corruption-related complaints were ineffective. Fewer than one in four who paid a bribe in the past year lodged a formal complaint, demonstrating serious deficits in the perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of channels for reporting and addressing bribery. “Governments must listen closely to what ordinary people are reporting or face the consequences of an increasingly alienated and distrustful citizenry,” said Labelle.
Echoing the findings of past editions of the Barometer, 68 percent of respondents saw political parties as corrupt, and 29 percent saw them as the single most corrupt institution in their country. The civil service and parliament trailed political parties, perceived by 63 and 60 percent of respondents respectively as being corrupt. The media, while not perceived as clean, scored best with just over 40 percent of respondents labelling the sector as corrupt and with only 6 percent seeing it as the single most corrupt domestic institution.
Reasons given for not presenting a formal complaint about bribery
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Reasons given for not presenting a formal complaint about bribery
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Public demand for greater integrity in government and business
The tragically familiar stories of this year’s Barometer are the negative perceptions of public institutions and government anti-corruption efforts, and low-income households saddled with petty bribe payments for ostensibly free services. New this year was the increasingly critical view of the private sector and a public motivated to pay a premium for clean business. The 2009 Barometer makes clear that both the private and public sectors have a great deal of work to do to win back the public trust.
Media contacts:
In Pakistan
Syed Adil Gilani
gilaniadil@gmail.com
Tel 5390408
Transparency International Pakistan
5 C, 2nd Floor, Khy-e-Ittehad, Phase VII,
DHA, Karachi
Wednesday 3rd June, 2009
Media Contacts: Karachi
Syed Adil Gilani
Tel: 021-5390408-9
Cell: 0321-8229086
Fax: 021-5390410
Email: ti.pakistan@gmail.com
Website: www.transparency.org.pk
Global corruption survey finds growing distrust of business Political parties and the Civil Service are perceived on average to be the most corrupt sectors around the world Berlin / Brussels, Karachi 3 June 2009 – The private sector uses bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations, believe over half of those polled for 2009 Global Corruption Barometer. The Barometer, a global public opinion survey released today by Transparency International (TI), also found that half of respondents expressed a willingness to pay a premium to buy from corruption-free companies.
“These results show a public sobered by a financial crisis precipitated by weak regulations and a lack of corporate accountability,” said Transparency International Chair, Huguette Labelle. “But we also see that the public is willing to actively support clean business. What is needed now is bold action by companies to continue strengthening their policies and practices, and to report more transparently on finances and interactions with government.”
The Barometer, with more than 73,000 respondents drawn from 69 countries and territories around the world, also found the poor to be disproportionately burdened by bribe demands. And it found that government efforts to combat corruption are generally perceived as ineffective, in addition to high levels of perceived corruption in political parties, parliaments and the civil service.
Syed Adil Gilani, Chairman Transparency International Pakistan said that the resistance towards anticorruption measures from the public servant is has pushed Pakistan to its present position as one of the most corrupt country and also perceived to be a breeding ground of terrorists. Corruption in spending the US $ 11 billion aid given by US from 2002 to 2007 for fighting terrorism, has not only failed , but infact it has caused suicide bombing, which has never occurred before 2002.
Political parties and the civil service are perceived on average to be the most corrupt sectors around the world
Figure 1 Single institution/sector perceived to be most affected by corruption, overall results
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Fieldwork was conducted between October 2008 and March 2009. As a public opinion survey, the Barometer reflects the views of a representative sample of each country’s population aged 16 and over In each country, the polling method was based on local conditions. Methods included face to face, telephone and online interviews.
Government anti-corruption efforts seen as ineffective
Most of those polled also felt that existing channels for making corruption-related complaints were ineffective. Fewer than one in four who paid a bribe in the past year lodged a formal complaint, demonstrating serious deficits in the perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of channels for reporting and addressing bribery. “Governments must listen closely to what ordinary people are reporting or face the consequences of an increasingly alienated and distrustful citizenry,” said Labelle.
Echoing the findings of past editions of the Barometer, 68 percent of respondents saw political parties as corrupt, and 29 percent saw them as the single most corrupt institution in their country. The civil service and parliament trailed political parties, perceived by 63 and 60 percent of respondents respectively as being corrupt. The media, while not perceived as clean, scored best with just over 40 percent of respondents labelling the sector as corrupt and with only 6 percent seeing it as the single most corrupt domestic institution.
Reasons given for not presenting a formal complaint about bribery
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Reasons given for not presenting a formal complaint about bribery
Source: Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Percentages are weighted.
Public demand for greater integrity in government and business
The tragically familiar stories of this year’s Barometer are the negative perceptions of public institutions and government anti-corruption efforts, and low-income households saddled with petty bribe payments for ostensibly free services. New this year was the increasingly critical view of the private sector and a public motivated to pay a premium for clean business. The 2009 Barometer makes clear that both the private and public sectors have a great deal of work to do to win back the public trust.
Media contacts:
In Pakistan
Syed Adil Gilani
gilaniadil@gmail.com
Tel 5390408
Crores of Rupees withdrawn by TM Khan District Coordination Officer
2 - 3 Crore Pak Rs. withdrawn from Banks under fictitious Heads by DCO (District Coordination Officer) of Tando Mohammed Khan i.e. Mr. Farooq Ahmed Laghari few days prior to ending of Fiscal Year in connivance with EDOs (Executive District Officer).
#2. Where has so many water Coolers given for Schools in my District
vanished thru & by corrupt HST (High School Teacher) level Haji Ashraf Memon who holds charge of Entire Education of TMK Dist.
Mushtaq T.
Tando Mohammed Khan
June 13, 2009
#2. Where has so many water Coolers given for Schools in my District
vanished thru & by corrupt HST (High School Teacher) level Haji Ashraf Memon who holds charge of Entire Education of TMK Dist.
Mushtaq T.
Tando Mohammed Khan
June 13, 2009
Corruption within Pakistan Police
This has the reference to the letter “Police and war on terror” by NAD. I do not subscribe to the idea that the officers like SHO, ASP//DSP SP DIG and IG should be appointed for a fixed and specific period of at least three years.
It goes without saying that the police department is infested with the abscess of corruption and intoxication of power to the extent that the policemen have been found having no qualms to do anything inhuman for the cause of money. As admitted by a senior police officer the department has produced more dacoits in the police uniform than the hardened criminal produced by our society among the masses. This specific period of posting for three years would give them a kind of license to reign the public without fear of being dislodged from the post. It does not further stand to any reason that a SHO or DPO be allowed to continue to work to complete his tenure even if he fails to subdue the epidemic of crime in his area. Therefore, the transfer/posting should be underpinned on administrative grounds according to the demands of the situation.
The deep-rooted corruption, maladministration and distance from professionalism are the basic causes of why the police remain an object of criticism. Basically, the recruitment of police is of three kinds: Constables, ASIs and ASPs. The constables are recruited by the department taking their exams, both physical and written, and interviews. ASIs and ASPs are appointed through provincial and federal public service commissions respectively. Except the ASPs who are inducted through CSS, the transparency in recruitment for constables and ASIs is very questionable. It is reliably learnt that the examination for the recruitment of constables is only limited to papers. The nomination of the candidates comes from the castles of politicians who distribute the vacancies among their party-men. Those who don’t have political access need to pay money to the agent to get the job. The normal rate for the vacancy of constable ranges from Rs.80,000 to Rs.100,000. The recent reports of cheating in Sindh Public Service Commission examination is the glaring example of integrity of the commission.
The process of giving bribes does not stop till acquisition of job only. It permeates to police training centres as well. The instructors, who do not have any other source of corruption, resort to extort money from the trainees by one way or the other. There is an unwritten law in training centres that every trainee has to pay his platoon commander/instructor Rs.500 to Rs.1000 as latter’s monthly pocket money. Those daredevil trainees who show unwillingness to pay their instructor are persecuted during physical training and eventually have to recourse to pay him out of compulsion. To get a leave during the training days is virtually impossible for a trainee, no matter how immense his emergency may be. But mere payment of Rs.200 to 500 per day to the Line Officer works out to make the impossible a possible. Thus, the policemen are indoctrinated to be corrupt from the training centres.
It does not end here. Corruption continues unabated in high headquarters that are no exception where a policeman has to compulsively bribe the clerks to move his file for his legal right/work, i.e. transfer, positing, honorarium, award, promotion and inquiry etc. If he does not bribe the clerks, the policeman has to suffer the departmental red-tapism. At the time of its purchase, the cloth for uniform is shown on paper as of best-quality available in the market, but when it reaches to the hands of policeman he finds it of such a lower quality and outlandish that he reckons the wastage of money on its stitching.
There is a notorious system called “Visa” system in police terminology. It implies to a situation when a policeman does not attend the duty for months and months and pays 50% of his salary to his incharge every month. This money is normally paid to the Line Officer who supplies the share to his seniors. The practically absent policemen are documentarily shown to be present on duty at ghost locations or reserved as stand-by personnel.
Apart from the excessive duty hours, the out-of-turn basis promotion is another cause of frustration, despondency and demoralization of policemen. This kind of promotions are given to those policemen who have political backing or enough money to bribe even their seniors. The implausible justification for the out-of-turn basis promotion is the promotees’ active participation in encounters or gallantry performance of duties. Are the policemen appointed for something other than the encounters or gallantry performance of duties?
The funds are embezzled by the seniors police officers. Arrangement for fuel for police mobiles for patrolling is upto the SHO who makes it out of the blood and sweat of common man. The entire department is enmeshed in corruption that has insidiously undermined the efficacy and efficiency of the force. How can a policeman, who himself is victimized of corruption, be just and honest to the common man remains an unanswerable question.
Aslam Pervaiz Abro
Ex-Investigation Officer
NAB Sindh
It goes without saying that the police department is infested with the abscess of corruption and intoxication of power to the extent that the policemen have been found having no qualms to do anything inhuman for the cause of money. As admitted by a senior police officer the department has produced more dacoits in the police uniform than the hardened criminal produced by our society among the masses. This specific period of posting for three years would give them a kind of license to reign the public without fear of being dislodged from the post. It does not further stand to any reason that a SHO or DPO be allowed to continue to work to complete his tenure even if he fails to subdue the epidemic of crime in his area. Therefore, the transfer/posting should be underpinned on administrative grounds according to the demands of the situation.
The deep-rooted corruption, maladministration and distance from professionalism are the basic causes of why the police remain an object of criticism. Basically, the recruitment of police is of three kinds: Constables, ASIs and ASPs. The constables are recruited by the department taking their exams, both physical and written, and interviews. ASIs and ASPs are appointed through provincial and federal public service commissions respectively. Except the ASPs who are inducted through CSS, the transparency in recruitment for constables and ASIs is very questionable. It is reliably learnt that the examination for the recruitment of constables is only limited to papers. The nomination of the candidates comes from the castles of politicians who distribute the vacancies among their party-men. Those who don’t have political access need to pay money to the agent to get the job. The normal rate for the vacancy of constable ranges from Rs.80,000 to Rs.100,000. The recent reports of cheating in Sindh Public Service Commission examination is the glaring example of integrity of the commission.
The process of giving bribes does not stop till acquisition of job only. It permeates to police training centres as well. The instructors, who do not have any other source of corruption, resort to extort money from the trainees by one way or the other. There is an unwritten law in training centres that every trainee has to pay his platoon commander/instructor Rs.500 to Rs.1000 as latter’s monthly pocket money. Those daredevil trainees who show unwillingness to pay their instructor are persecuted during physical training and eventually have to recourse to pay him out of compulsion. To get a leave during the training days is virtually impossible for a trainee, no matter how immense his emergency may be. But mere payment of Rs.200 to 500 per day to the Line Officer works out to make the impossible a possible. Thus, the policemen are indoctrinated to be corrupt from the training centres.
It does not end here. Corruption continues unabated in high headquarters that are no exception where a policeman has to compulsively bribe the clerks to move his file for his legal right/work, i.e. transfer, positing, honorarium, award, promotion and inquiry etc. If he does not bribe the clerks, the policeman has to suffer the departmental red-tapism. At the time of its purchase, the cloth for uniform is shown on paper as of best-quality available in the market, but when it reaches to the hands of policeman he finds it of such a lower quality and outlandish that he reckons the wastage of money on its stitching.
There is a notorious system called “Visa” system in police terminology. It implies to a situation when a policeman does not attend the duty for months and months and pays 50% of his salary to his incharge every month. This money is normally paid to the Line Officer who supplies the share to his seniors. The practically absent policemen are documentarily shown to be present on duty at ghost locations or reserved as stand-by personnel.
Apart from the excessive duty hours, the out-of-turn basis promotion is another cause of frustration, despondency and demoralization of policemen. This kind of promotions are given to those policemen who have political backing or enough money to bribe even their seniors. The implausible justification for the out-of-turn basis promotion is the promotees’ active participation in encounters or gallantry performance of duties. Are the policemen appointed for something other than the encounters or gallantry performance of duties?
The funds are embezzled by the seniors police officers. Arrangement for fuel for police mobiles for patrolling is upto the SHO who makes it out of the blood and sweat of common man. The entire department is enmeshed in corruption that has insidiously undermined the efficacy and efficiency of the force. How can a policeman, who himself is victimized of corruption, be just and honest to the common man remains an unanswerable question.
Aslam Pervaiz Abro
Ex-Investigation Officer
NAB Sindh
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