Chairman National Highway Authority (NHA) Shahid Ashraf Tarar claimed that public money to the amount of Rs 300 billion has been saved through a comprehensive reform initiative taken to prevent malpractice in public procurement.
“The NHA, being the premier public sector organization in the field of road construction, has launched a comprehensive reform initiative to prevent malpractice in public procurement through higher standards of transparency and accountability in the entire chain involving procurement, construction and maintenance of development schemes,” said the Chairman NHA.
Earlier, Aliya Rashid, Director General Awareness and Prevention Division of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) delivered a lecture to the employees of NHA.
The Chairman NHA said that reforms initiative was accompanied by effective monitoring along with strict compliance with public procurement rules. As a result of these reforms for the first time, a substantial number of construction projects were undertaken at a cost much lesser than the engineer’s estimates leading to an overall saving of Rs 300 billion public money. He also assured the visiting guest about NHA’s complete support in the NAB’s drive against corruption.
Delivering her lecture, Aliya Rashid said that social and family pressure is one of the major reasons behind corruption in the country so there is a need to create awareness among women and children and convince them to play their role against the menace.
She claimed that women and children pushed their husbands and fathers to buy things such as cars, houses, mobile phones etc., just to compete with relatives or neighbors.
“It is nothing but pushing a person sitting on a wheelchair to run. As every man wants to become a hero in the eyes of his wife and children, they try to fulfill the demands of their family members by using fair and unfair means,” she said.
“If we keep hammering the word “Say No to Corruption”, people will definitely help stop it,” she remarked.
Aliya said the message ‘Say No to Corruption’ has been written on postage stamps, utility bills, CNIC carrier papers, driving licences, ATM, railways tickets, postal envelopes, airport screens and newspapers in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. A storybook ‘Gogi Says No to Corruption’ and coloring books for primary and secondary levels have also been printed for children. The message is displayed in all cinema halls too.
She said that the ill-effects of the menace of corruption have become one of the greatest challenges that every country is confronted with.
The developed countries have managed in reducing its size and scope to a minimum level through sustainable measures like building infrastructure but it is quite rampant in developing countries.
The NAB official further said that corruption and misuse of authority is the main challenge. In the anti-corruption efforts, prevention is another effective tool to combat corruption and misuse of authority at any early stage before it happens. She also emphasized that women power against corruption can change the destiny of the country. “Women who are wives and mothers can play their imperative role to prevent their family members from indulging in corruption and decrease the financial social pressures on their spouses and children,” she said.
