Corruption allegations on Punjab govt are baseless:Spokesman

Lahore: A spokesman for Punjab government has said that the statement of Chairman NAB that Punjab is responsible for 65 percent corruption in the province is unclear and ambiguous. He said that Chairman NAB should clarify against whom he is leveling this charge. Is he linking corruption with the ratio of population, referring to this evil at departmental or patwari level or accusing Punjab government. The spokesman further said that the chairman should elaborate why he has targeted Punjab and why he is silent about federal and other provincial governments. He said that Punjab government strongly denies any allegation of corruption against provincial government, Chief Minister Punjab, his cabinet or the political leadership of the province and consider such statements as condemnable which create doubts about their honesty and integrity.

The spokesman for Punjab government further said that if Chairman NAB wants to level any allegation of corruption against Punjab government the statements of international institutions like World Bank, and Transparency International are enough to refute such charges. He said that in the statement of Country Director World Bank Rashid Bin Masood published in all national papers on October 26, 2012 complete satisfaction was expressed over the transparent utilization of funds and timely completion of development and welfare projects in Punjab and he had described Punjab government as a role model for other provincial governments. Similarly, Pakistan branch of Transparency International in a letter in April 2012 termed setting up of IT labs in the province and the entire process of laptop distribution transparent.

The spokesman further said that if Chairman NAB is referring to corruption in various government departments, it is worth mentioning that Punjab government has introduced clear and well-coordinated Citizens Feedback System for its elimination and this system is proving very effective for the eradication of this menace in police, Revenue, Land Record and other government departments. In this system any citizen who has telephoned police emergency service or contacted the concerned department for the transfer of his land receives a telephone call or SMS message through computerized system inquiring from him did anyone of the concerned department ask him for illegal gratification and what was the standard of service. According to the statistics of national newspapers 1500 persons daily give their feedback.

The spokesman further said that the land record computerization project has been implemented in some districts of Punjab while it is nearing completion in other districts. This project will eliminate corruption in obtaining “Fard”. Moreover, the salaries of police employees have been substantially enhanced to root out corruption from the department.