PESHAWAR, Dec 07 (APP): Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (R) Syed Arshad Hussain Shah Thursday said that “corruption is a social evil that eats away any nation or society like a termite.”
A society which became a victim of corrupt practices, did not need any external enemy for its destruction as its corrupt system was enough for the purpose, he said addressing a seminar jointly organized under the auspices of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Provincial Anti-corruption Establishment here in Nishtar Hall on Thursday.
Provincial cabinet members, higher government officials, students and representatives from civil society attended the seminar.
The chief minister said that corruption had always been considered as a roadblock to national progress and development, and as a result, “people lose their trust in the system”.
He made it clear that incumbent caretaker provincial government was not only committed to promote transparency and to eradicate the scourge of corruption but also taking curative measures to this effect.
The government, he added, had introduced “Prosperous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Vision” and the most important component of that vision was “Zero Tolerance Policy” against corruption.
“We will strictly monitor the public service delivery centers and eradicate the root causes of corruption and malpractices.”
The chief minister said that it was a brutal and painful fact that corruption had become a major obstacle in the way of socio-economic development. “Corruption stifles economic growth, paves the way of black money and perpetuates a cycle of inequality that compromises the potential of our nation,” he added.
It was “our collective responsibility to combat corruption. We may not be able to make any other major achievement during this limited caretaker tenure and mandate. However, we will go all out to develop an effective mechanism against corruption, which hopefully, will be a good start up and a role model for the successive governments,” he stated.
The chief minister on this occasion, appreciated the efforts of NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Provincial Anti-corruption Establishment against corruption and assured that his government would stand by NAB for the purpose.
He also stressed the need to create awareness among the masses against corruption and change their thinking adding that each and every segment of the society would have to play its role in eradicating the corruption from the society.
Arshad Shah said that equality, transparency, justice and supremacy of merit were the real spirit of a good governance. “Today, we all are here to reiterate our commitment to continue the fight against corruption, ” he concluded.
