NAB Pakistan 16 years performance: Few facts and figures
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ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP): NAB Pakistan 16 years performance: Few Facts and Figures
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has completed about 6,300 inquiries during last 16 years, of which 56 % were matured into formal investigation and more than 80 % investigations were taken into stage of prosecution in courts of law.
Out of 1,762 decided cases, the Bureau achieved conviction in 889 cases with 51 % conviction rate which speaks for itself.
A document while listing measures adopted by its present management and achievement made so far to eradicate corruption on Monday said prime focus is on cases of cheating public at large by fraudulent financial companies, bank frauds, willful bank loan defaults, misuse of authority and embezzlement of state funds by government servants etc.
NAB has received about 309,000 complaints from individuals and private/public organizations during last 16 years.
Corruption is mother of all evils which undermines development and also deprives people from their due rights, and considering these facts, NAB was established as Pakistan's apex anti-corruption organization which is assigned with responsibility of elimination of corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement.
Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, Chairman NAB after assumption of his duties had chalked out a comprehensive National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) as under NACS, the Bureau has adopted Zero Tolerance Policy and proactive approach to curb corruption and corrupt practices from the country.
The document said since NAB's inception, one of its major achievements has been recovery of around Rs 275.4 billion of ill-gotten money which was deposited in national exchequer.
The figures of complaints, inquiries and investigations are almost double as compared to same period of 2014 to 2015.
The comparative figures for the latest two years are indicative of the hard work being put in by all ranks of NAB staff in an atmosphere of renewed energy and dynamism, where fight against corruption is being taken as a national duty.
Increase in number of complaints also reflects enhanced public trusted in the NAB.
The document said PILDAT in its report supports position stated above as 42 % people trusted NAB against 30 % for police and 29 % for government officials. The recent report of Transparency International also rated Pakistan in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 126 to 117 which is a great achievement for Pakistan due to Chairman NAB's efforts.
It said to create awareness against ill effects of corruption among the youth of Pakistan, NAB in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as over 10, 000 Character Building Societies (CBSs) have been established in universities, colleges and schools during last one year to create awareness against corruption as youths are considered a vanguard in this fight.
NAB has devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System in NAB in order to review and further improve the performance of Officers/Officials of NAB. Under this grading system, NAB Regional Bureaus are being evaluated at a given criteria on annual basis.
The Bureau has also developed an effective Monitoring and Evaluation System, catering the needs of all concerned having salient features of maintenance of data at each stage including complaint entry, complaint verification, inquiry, investigation, prosecution stage and record preservation of Regional Board Meetings and ability to analyze data in qualitative and quantitative form having warnings and alarms system for violators.
NAB with improved infrastructure and rationalized workload, timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of case putting a maximum limit of 10 months- from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to investigation and finally to a reference in Accountability Court.
The document said in order to ensure uniformity and standardization, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Investigation Officers (IOs) in vogue were reviewed and revised after a gap of 10 years in order to benefit from the experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers, a system of CIT comprising of Director, Additional Director, Investigation Officer and a Senior Legal Counsel has been put in place.
This will not only lend quality to work but also ensure that no single individual can influence the proceedings.
The implementation of enforcement measures and prosecution matters is being monitored in NAB through daily, weekly and monthly reports and inspections.
Moreover, NAB has decided to give priority to corruption cases i.e. normal cases from Rs 100-200 million, Complex Cases from Rs 500-1000 million and Mega Cases Rs 1000 million and above for mega cases.
NAB under leadership of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has initiated an Internal Accountability Mechanism (IAM) and the inefficient, unscrupulous and delinquent officers are being weeded out and proceeded against under relevant provisions of law.
NAB had initiated disciplinary proceedings against 83 officers/officials during last two and half years, out of which 60 cases have been finalized with 22 major penalties, 34 minor penalties and 4 exonerated. NAB has also set up a Special Integrity Management Cell in NAB Headquarters.
NAB has established its first Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Rawalpindi/Islamabad Regional Bureau. The Forensic Science Lab has facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis.
NAB intends to establish NAB's Anti-Corruption Academy at Islamabad for capacity building of NAB officers/Officials.
NAB's anti-corruption campaign is carried widely for awareness and prevention of corruption besides enforcement.
The Bureau hopes that joint efforts of all stakeholders can collaborate to check corruption and corrupt practices before happening with help of all stakeholders, civil society, media and people at large and bring sustainable systematic changes to governance structure of the country.
