NAB To Continue Pursuing Corrupt Untouchables: Chairman

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said the Bureau, committed to curbing corruption across-the-board, has taken action against those influential persons during last few months who considered themselves as "untouchable.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Dec, 2018 ) :National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (Retd) Javed Iqbal on Wednesday said the Bureau, committed to curbing corruption across-the-board, has taken action against those influential persons during last few months who considered themselves as "untouchable." He was addressing a seminar entitled `Our Faith Corruption Free Pakistan' arranged here by Faisal Masjid campus of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) in connection with commemoration of anti-corruption week.

The chairman said the Bureau started investigations, inquiries and even filed references against corrupt powerful persons and it would continue pursuing such corrupts as per law.

The NAB chairman said corruption was root cause of every evil and it has become one of the greatest challenges of modern era.

"Some have called the corruption as 'Deemak' but in our society it has become a cancer and only treatment of this menace is surgery," he said, adding that the Bureau and other anti-corruption agencies were working hard to curb corruption through various designed strategies.

He was of the view that economy and social development of Pakistan has suffered immensely from detrimental effects of corruption.

Justice Javed Iqbal said it was very pride that Pakistan is considered as role model for SAARC countries in eradication of corruption due to NAB efforts as Pakistan is the only country whose Corruption Perception Index (CPI) according to Transparency International Report has been decreased from 175 to 116.

He said that 59 per cent people of the country in a latest survey have shown confidence on NAB due to its actions across the board, especially against corrupt influential persons.

The NAB chairman said courts in Pakistan were independent and showing improvement and added the day would soon come when a common man would be able to say for having a decent and respectable life in this country.

He said corruption was a menace and its best solution was to promote self-accountability concept.

"We need to pursue self-accountability in our life and I request you to adopt this approach to get positive results." He said one of major achievements of NAB during last one year was distribution of Rs2.5 billion recovered amount to various affected persons of different housing societies.

He said that NAB has also taken various initiatives and devised a system to review and further improve its performance. Under grading system, all regional bureau's are being evaluated at a given criteria which has proved very successful and performance of NAB's regional bureaus is increasing day by day due to regular monitoring and inspection.

The NAB chairman said youth was future of Pakistan that make up over 60 per cent of country's population so their role was crucial for eradicating corruption.

He said corruption was far more prevalent in developing countries as compared to the developed ones and it badly impacts society, governance and youth.

He urged the students to develop zero tolerance for corruption and play their due role in inculcating positive behaviour and good deeds in their surroundings.

Students must play a pivotal role in promoting awareness and taking steps for eradication of corruption to make the country prosperous, he added. "We have also signed an MOU with Higher education Commission (HEC). Both NAB and HEC are undertaking joint efforts for sensitizing the youth against corruption," he said and urged all the universities to join hands to eliminate corruption from the society.

In his welcome address, Rector IIUI, Dr Masoom Yasinzai said that corruption was a global phenomena which has crippled the societies. He said that youth were the best utilizable source to get rid of the menace of corruption.

He assured that IIUI would be found in leading ranks against corruption and such activities would continue from varsity platform.

The event was also attended by Director General NAB, other high officials of both organizations, varsity's Deans,faculty members, journalists and students.