Islamabad - Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched an anti-corruption app, called ‘Report Corruption’, in connection with the International Anti-Corruption Day and appreciated the financial recoveries made by the anti-corruption institutions.
Addressing the ceremony here on Monday, the prime minister lauded the Punjab government for launching the anti-corruption app, which is accessible for the people to lodge anti-corruption complaints.
The prime minister expressed the hope that the app will help in transforming Pakistan into a modern and transparent nation.
He praised the performance of NAB and Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment for recovering looted national wealth. The PM said these institutions have been successful in recovering billions of rupees from the corrupt elements which need to be widely publicized. He said the recovered money will be spent for the uplift and betterment of people.
Imran Khan regretted that people are unaware about the vital link between corruption and their miseries.
Referring the example of China, he said hundreds of people including ministers have been put in jails on graft charges in order to eradicate corruption from their country. He said in Lebanon, Chile, Iraq and other countries people are protesting on roads against corruption of their rulers. He said that in this day and age it is not easy to hide corruption.
He said that today corrupt countries are poor and transparent nations are rich. He referred to the example of Congo, Nigeria and other African countries which are rich in natural resources but their people are facing extreme level of poverty due to rampant corruption in their societies. Switzerland, on the other hand, lacks natural resources but is very prosperous and rich.
He said that a modern and prosperous society gives great emphasis on anti-corruption. He said when corruption in any society increases, the money that was to be spent on health, education and other necessities of people transfers to the pockets of corrupt people. As those corrupt people are afraid of discovery of their ill-gotten wealth, they transfer it abroad.
He said that overseas Pakistanis as a precious asset of the country and they can invest heavily in the country if they are sure of no corruption. He called a corrupt person as the enemy of the people.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the government was committed to eradicating the menace of corruption from the province. He said the launch of the new app was the beginning of a new era. He said this app will enable the complainant to view the progress on his complain.
The CM said the PTI government will fulfil its agenda of justice and accountability. He said Anti-Corruption Establishment of Punjab has land worth of 132 billion rupees and about 4.75 billion rupees were deposited in national exchequer. He also urged the people to play their due role to eradicate the corruption.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar in his remarks said they will digitalize the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment on the direction of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
He said launching of the app is a step forward to automate the system. He said this app will be practical demonstration of Whistle Blower concept. He expressed the hope that the anti-corruption department will double its recovery after the launch of this app.