President Dr Arif Alvi has called for collective efforts to make Pakistan a corruption free and economically strong country. In a message on the International Anti-Corruption Day being observed on Saturday, he said the whole nation must stand united and support efforts against corruption to purge the society of the social evil.
He said that this day underscores the need to make united efforts by governments, civil society, media, and youth and play their role in eradicating the menace of corruption. “I am hopeful that if we act together, we can make an economically strong and corruption-free Pakistan for our future generations,” he added.
He said,” Pakistan commemorates the Day with the theme ‘Uniting the World Against Corruption’ to highlight the need for collective action to curb corrupt practices in the country. ‘The Day underscores the need to make united efforts by governments, civil society, media, and youth and play their role in eradicating the menace of corruption,” he added.
Corruption, he said,” poses a serious threat to our country’s socio-economic development and good governance hindering efficient service delivery, discouraging investment, and obstructing economic progress.” Corruption, he added, was also the major reason behind the pilferage of scarce national resources, which could, otherwise, have been used for providing the much-needed education, health and basic infrastructure to the nation.
“It is, therefore, imperative to accelerate efforts to eliminate corruption from the society. Although Pakistan has taken several steps to improve transparency, ensure accountability, and curb corruption, much remains to be done in this regard.” The president said the government alone could not overcome the challenge, rather it was the shared responsibility of all segments of society to support its efforts to uproot the scourge of corruption. “For this, we need to identify its root causes, detect corrupt practices, expose corrupt elements, create awareness,.—INP
