ISLAMABAD - National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to set up two new regional bureaus in Sukkur and Multan, as part of NAB's expansion plan for eradication of corruption and better monitoring of its activities across the country.
It was decided during the two-day 19th Director Generals (DGs) Conference of NAB started here on Thursday at the NAB Headquarters in the chair of Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudry.
The Prosecutor General Accountability (PGA), Deputy Chairman, all DGs of NAB at Headquarters and Regions participated in the Conference. During the meeting, several policy issues related to reinvigoration of NAB's work were discussed.
While addressing the conference, Chairman NAB Qamar Zaman Chaudry reviewed Bureau's last years' achievements. The conference thoroughly discussed last years' performance, shortcomings, measures taken for improvement and future plan of action.
Discussing measures taken during last year, the chairman said after constitution of Combined Investigation Teams (CITs), many corruption cases are now being well prosecuted in the courts. He stressed upon the importance of the team work.
He said that the Prosecution Division and Intelligence & Vigilance Cell have been strengthened to evolve a strong mechanism for nabbing the corrupt elements. He said efforts have been also made to boost the morale of NAB officers through logistics and monetary benefits. "The NAB officers are also now being sent on professional courses and trainings, this leads to better efficiency," he added.
During the conference, it was decided to establish a state-of-the-art Anti-Corruption Training Academy on the pattern of National Anti-Corruption Academy of Malaysia to enhance the abilities of the officers working in the Bureau.
While discussing the issue, the chairman said that training is a continuous and systematic process for any organisation. He said top priority would be given to NAB employees on professional line as per international standards. He directed concerned division to expedite work on this project. The conference also decided to conduct refresher courses for prosecutors and Investigation Officers for the purpose of capacity building.
While discussing the operations work, the conference decided that a case must be expeditiously completed. Commenting on timeline of the cases, the chairman NAB directed all DGs to speed up completion of cases so that efficiency of the Bureau's work could be enhanced.
The conference also decided that Officers from Inspection Department of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would be attached on need basis to handle willful loan default and bank fraud cases.
During the conference, while reviewing progress on the establishment of NAB's Forensic Laboratory, the chairman expressed satisfaction over the work done by the Training and Evaluation Wing.
The DG Awareness and Prevention (A&P) informed the conference that A&P Division under the umbrella of prevention regime has engaged the masses in its efforts to curb corruption through the creation of Character Building Societies (CBSs). The DG A&P said that so far 19193 CBSs have been established all over the Pakistan excluding Balochistan.
The chairman expressed satisfaction over the A&P work and directed to continuously engage with these CBSs. He said this would help sensitise masses about the causes and ill effects of corruption on the national development and on the life of an individual. He said engaging youth through CBSs could be helpful in curbing corruption as youth represent a significant portion of our country.
The conference also decided to pass the direction to the Regulators, Development Authorities like Capital Development Authority (CDA), Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and others to direct housing societies to maintain complete computerised data of their clients.