Name:
Ihtisham Ali
Father’s Name:
Arshad Ali
CNIC:
331040299625-9
Class:
Bs Math(M)
Session:
2018-22
Campus:
Faisalabad
Phone No:
03090954093
E-mail:
Ihtishamaliuaf@gmail.com
“Corruption, a social evil”
“Corruption is worse than the prostitution. The latter might
endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably
endangers the morals of the entire country.”
(Karl Kraus)
Introduction:
Corruption is a social evil that is spreading its poison in the roots of nation.
Corruption in simple words is when a person in power decides to misuse his power in making
money for himself. A corrupt person takes a lot of bribes from people, and in return do illegal
work.
Corruption is also called “the mother of all evils”. It has been spread in almost all the countries
throughout the world. However, the underdeveloped and developing countries are most affected
by this evil. Corruption in Pakistan has also become viral disease that has penetrated all the
quarters of society. It has not only affected the legitimacy of institutions but also impacted every
aspect of social, economic and political activity. According to transparency international 2021
report, Pakistan is ranked 140 in corruption out of the total 180 countries and its CPI index is 28.
Comparatively, India’s score stands at 40 and is ranked 85, which is far better than Pakistan. So,
there is a die hard need to combat corruption in Pakistan.
“Corruption is a poison. We must put that
down with an iron hand.”
(Muhammad Ali Jinnah)
Corruption, a social phenomenon:
When a child lands on earth, he is pure and pious. It is
the society that builds up his nature and personality. Positive environment develops positive
traits in human's nature while negative develops negative. So, corruption is an outcome of a
negative environment which not only corrupts a person but also his behaviours and daily routine
activities. Parents form families and families make societies. The process goes on, making
different departments, institutions and political system that represents a country on the national
and international level. The basis of these systems and institutions completely depends on
individuality and single person's character, working there. It's a nature's law that people learn
from each other. So, if a single person is corrupt, he would definitely affect the behaviours and
traits of others in some negative way, thus increasing the number of corrupts.
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s
set a rolling it must increase.”
(Charles Caleb Cotton)
Corruption is contagious. It is like a tumour which keeps on multiplying from individual
level to country level, thus making the whole of a society a piece of cancerous material. On a
social level, this cancer becomes more severe when society sends its affected representatives to
different working institutions and departments of a state. Here, these corrupt individuals or
leaders will make corrupt laws and policies to run their state. Here, it is important to note that
this evil thing involving every individual, also reflects their standards on the international level.
Such corrupt countries and their citizens are also unable to compete with their neighbours in the
race of development. According to Joe Biden:
“Corruption is cancer: cancer that eats away at a citizen's faith in democracy,
diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets,
crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire
generations. It scares away investments and jobs.”
Forms of Corruption in Socities:
As corruption is a part of human's nature, it appears in
different forms on different levels. For example, the very first, basic and lowest level from which
corruption starts is individual level. When a child starts going to school, he basically starts
learning moral and ethical behaviours which set his moral standards for upcoming life. When a
student does not prepare for his exam, he cheats during the examination which not only shows
his dishonesty with himself but also, he is being dishonest with his future. Nowadays, corruption
has taken various forms like bribery, scam, nepotism, money laundering, patronage and
embezzlement. The worst and most common of its forms, is bribery.
Bribery involves the improper use of gifts and favours in exchange for personal gain. This
notorious act can be seen in departments of government, private institutions, private offices,
firms and now, on an individual and social level too. Everyday examples include the police
cases, where authoritative people just use police officers for their own sake of purposes.
The Other most common form of corruption in Pakistani society is money laundering. It is the
process of concealing money by corruption or gambling and converting it into legitimate source.
Pakistan is categorized by the US department as a country of primary concern in respect of
Money laundering and Financial crimes.
Causes of Corruption:
The root cause of corruption is that people want to grow rich overnight.
Such people ignore moral values and in order to meet their needs, they do corruption. Fixed
salary class also cause corruption. The prices of the commodities of life rise daily but their
salaries are not raised with that ratio. As a result, they begin to accept bribery in order to keep
their standards of living high.
The other main causes of corruption in a society are the quality of institutions, the low salaries,
press freedom, judiciary and cultural determinants. People’s indifference is also the best breeding
ground for corruption to grow.
Effects of Corruption on Society:
Not only does corruption affect economic development in terms of
economic efficiency but it also affects the living standards of a common man. The money which
is meant to improve local schools, hospitals and roads is wasted due to corruption, thus
opportunities for a better life are wasted with it. Corruption is like a mosquito which sucks the
blood of a common man.
“Corruption is paid by the poor.”
(Pope Francis)
Combatting Corruption:
Firstly, the arrangement should be made to bring bureaucrats of good
characters and a clean record to the top position in every department. There is no denying the
fact that God-fearing officers, with a zero record of corruption, serve in almost all institutions.
They are mostly sidelined, and the local politicians have appointed the most corrupt officers to
key posts because they promise to give them their due share from illegally earned money. A
team must be formed to hunt upright officers to be appointed to the key posts.
Secondly, the government must raise the salaries of government employees. At present, their
salaries are not enough to meet their daily expenses. Even officers appointed through competitive
examinations, cry for the lack of salaries. Many employees, therefore, justify their corruption on
the pretext of poor salaries.
Finally, the government must strive to provide basic facilities like decent education and health
free of cost to all the citizens. There should be no compromise on these facilities because private
education and health institutions consume the major chunk of money of the employees and force
them to indulge in illegal activities to afford it. Besides, the arrangement for fast, efficient and
cheap transport must also be made for the civilians.
It's difficult to eliminate corruption but not impossible. If one person from every
house takes responsibility to reform his family then societies will also be reformed, giving us
corruption-free government's systems and lives. The first step to combat corruption is to raise
voice against corruption.
To conclude, I would say:
“The duty of the youth is to challenge corruption.”