Short essay on Corruption in Pakistan

Pakistan came into existence after the partition of India in 1947 and since then it has not been able to transform itself into a growing State as it would have been expected after 64 years of independence. The major underlying cause of such a disappointing situation for the country is that there is corruption in almost every sector of the country.

According to the most recent perception report from Transparency International Pakistan published at the end of 2011, corruption in Land Administration leads the long list of corrupt affairs followed by police, income tax, judiciary, tendering and contracting, customs, plus state corporations and the least corrupt sector is perceived to be the army.

The problem of corruption in Land Administration is predictably leading the list of the perceived evil of corruption. The politicians do not pay enough heat to this issue and refrain from carrying out the task of managing collections and preservation. This is more of a concern in the tribal areas where Feudal Lords backed by politicians dominate the land affairs. The police supposedly have a common ill in the underdeveloped world. There is inappropriate selection of the policemen without any emphasis given on keeping education as a pre requisite for entry into the sector.

However most recently the country has kept a minimal level of education as a necessary requirement for being recruited in the police but corruption in the sector does not allow for such conditions to be practically implemented. The number of police officials in the country is highly disproportionate to the ever growing population of Pakistan. Although the training provided to them is presumably the same as the army, there are hardly any traces of these training techniques being useful in this particular sector.

The ills of the tax administration have resulted in poor tax revenues for the country in the past years. There is no doubt that Pakistan is ranked amongst the lowest tax revenue generating economies in the world. Nevertheless in recent times statistics have shown an improvement due to which the tax sector is no more considered to be the most corrupt sector of the country. The only way of eradicating problems from this sector is to reduce the direct contact between the taxpayer and tax collector as most of the rich population in the country does not pay income tax. They bribe the tax officials and their names on the tax collection lists automatically become invisible.

Corruption is widespread in the country and it is vital to understand its root cause. There is no attention paid or effort put by the government to lessen or eradicate corruption in the country. The politicians themselves are corrupt and are only willing to fill their pockets rather than to solve the various problems Pakistan faces. The Anti Corruption unit is also believed by many as one of the most corrupt units in the country. As long as there is no proper check and control on corruption it will continue to take place at every level whether household or governmental. Pakistan should try to deal with the issue of corruption or else a time would come when it would be labeled as a "Failed State".