ISLAMABAD, (APP): Chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Qamar Zaman Chaudhry on Tuesday said implementation of enforcement measures and prosecution matters in Bureau were being monitored through daily, weekly and monthly reports and inspections.
The Bureau has also devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System to review annual performance of its Regional Offices and further improve performance of officers/officials, he said this while chairing a meeting on Mid Term Review of NAB Regional Bureaus and NAB HQ.
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Senior Member, Chairman's Inspection and Monitoring Team (CI&MT) conducted the Review during 2016 and gave briefing on strengths and weaknesses of Regional Bureaus.
The Chairman said under the grading system, NAB Regional Bureau's performance (Operational Efficiency Index OEI) was being evaluated under a criteria and added NAB had chalked out an effective and comprehensive National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) for eradication of corruption and corrupt practices which has started yielding dividends.
The Chairman NAB said NAB has already been devised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to rationalize workload and timelines have been prescribed for efficient, effective and expeditious disposal of cases putting a maximum limit of 10 months- from complaint verification-to-inquiry-to-investigation and finally to a reference in the Accountability Court.
He said in order to ensure uniformity and standardization, the Standard Operating Procedures for investigation officers (IOs) in vogue were reviewed and revised after a gap of 10 years in order to benefit from experience and collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers.
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He said NAB has prosecuted corrupts and has recovered Rs. 277 billion since its inception and deposited in national exchequer which is a record achievement. It is in this context that PILDAT in its report has rated NAB's performance at 42% based on public survey. This compares quite favorably to 29% public confidence in
Police and 26% in Government officers working. The rate of success of NAB's prosecution work in all courts is approximately 75%.
The recent report of Transparency International also rated Pakistan in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 126 to 117.
He said that NAB has established its first Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Islamabad which has facilities of Digital Forensics, Questioned Documents and Fingerprint Analysis.
The Chairman said NAB has reiterated his resolve to continue the policy of zero tolerance against corruption within the NAB. At the same time, he encouraged the officers to perform their duties on merit. Through a combination of above measures and procedures NAB is geared up to augment its drive against corruption with renewed zeal and energy.
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Qamar Zaman Ch. said NAB has taken a lead in establishing a path way for effectively combating corruption in the system. Under Awareness and prevention regime, NAB has established more than 22,000 Character Building Societies (CBS) in Universities and Colleges all over the country for sensitizing youth, the future leaders of our country against corruption. In order to implement the anti-corruption drive, NAB, under its country-wide awareness campaign is making significant efforts to reach out to masses through print and electronic media by holding various activities under awareness campaign on "Say No to Corruption."