A critical analysis of Adil Gilani’s National Corruption Perception Survey 2010 – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi
After my initial response to the report that was published in various newspapers (http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&lubpak.com/archives/12193), I downloaded the National Corruption Perception Survey 2010 by the Transparency International-Pakistan (TIP). The report is biased without an iota of doubt.
Some of the points are given below for the readers to make up their mind about:
- This was the 4th National Corruption Perception Survey. The chronology of surveys was in 2002, 2006, 2009 and now in 2010. In times of a non popular government and a military ruler, 2 surveys took place in a span of 6 years while in the times of PPP government (an elected, democratic government), 2 surveys have taken place in 2 years. This clearly shows the bias of the TIP. In order to have a credible survey, it should be held on a continuous basis and intervals should be well planned.
- IBA Karachi led the survey along with Gift University – Gujranwala, Gomal University – DI Khan and Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar. The supervising professor Prof. Shabih Haider of IBA says in the report that “Institute of Business Administration, Karachi takes complete responsibility of analysis and ensures complete integrity”. My question is who in IBA approved the survey? Was IBA paid any amount for conducting this survey? I believe that TIP would be claiming money from the parent body for the survey and report. I feel that Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Dean and Director of IBA be asked about this matter. IBA is known for its integrity and by being partner with TIP, it is tainting not just its name but also of Pakistan.
- In all 5200 was the sample size, which I feel should not be sufficient for a sensitive exercise like this. For a survey of this magnitude and importance, a bigger sample size should have been taken. My friends in Marketing Research tell me that even for a shampoo, a bigger sample size is chosen while the way interviews are conducted i.e. whom to interview is a scientific process and time intensive
- The cities in which the survey was conducted is also a surprising revelation: In Punjab, the survey was conducted in all 5 northern and central Punjab cities which are controlled by the PML-N. No city of Southern Punjab where the PPP has a clear majority was included in the survey. The names of the cities are: Sialkot, Gujranwala, Daska, Lahore and Chakwal. Similarly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, data was collected from Peshawar, Haripur, Mansehra and Abbotabad. Needless to say 3 out of these four cities are dominated by the PML-N/Q whereas the Pakhtoon dominated cities were not involved other than Peshawar. For sure we can see bias against the ANP and PPP.
- According to the report NAB was “believed as a good institution”. Can one ask respondents as to how many have dealt with NAB?
- The second highest occupation in which they took the survey was students. Students in all were 20.2% of the respondents. My personal feeling is that students were from the same institutions where the survey was conducted.
- How have they come up with Average Expenditure on Bribery? That is quite mind boggling. Do people keep a track of amount they have paid for bribery? People pay bribes to get their work done. Did they ask questions from respondents that how much monetary gain they had by paying for the bribes?
- Out of 5200 respondents, only 93 people have paid income tax which is a mere 1.78%. Did they ask people why they haven’t paid income tax or filed returns?
In all, it was a biased survey, the results of which are quite obvious and also portrayed wrongly by the media. The PPP shouldn’t worry too much about it as these surveys are proven wrong at the time of elections. Let PML-N enjoy the certificate however, it is important that they act on realities of the Sasti Roti, Bachat Bazar etc which have been raised by the PPP and also the Auditor General on a number of times.
پنجاب کے حکمران بڑے خوش قسمت ہیں کہ پچھلے دو اڑھائی سال میں اتنی ناکامیوں کے باوجود بھی ان کی شان میں قصیدے پڑھنے والوں کی کمی نہیں آئی۔ اب تو وزیر اعلیٰ پنجاب نے افسروں کو ان کی نااہلیوں کی سزا دینے کا سلسلہ بھی بند کر دیا ہے۔ یوں سب کو اس بات کی تسلی ہے کہ اب کچھ بھی ہو جائے ان کا کسی نے کچھ نہیں بگاڑنا۔ ان کا کام محض ٹیلی ویژن کیمروں کے سامنے آ کر گفتگو کر کے عوام کو لولی پاپ دینا ہے۔ اور تو اور ٹرانسپرنسی انٹرنیشنل بھی یہ سمجھتی ہے کہ پنجاب میں کرپشن بڑی کم ہوئی ہے۔
مجھے ٹرانسپرنسی انٹرنیشنل کے گیلانی صاحب کی عقل پر ماتم کرنے کو جی چاہ رہا ہے جن کے نزدیک کرپشن صرف ٹھیکوں میں پیسہ کھانے کا نام ہے۔ ان کے نزدیک مالی بدانتظامی، نااہلی اور پیسے کا ضیاع کرپشن کے زمرے میں نہیں آتا۔ جس صوبے میں اربوں روپے مہینوں کے اندر تندوروں میں جھونک دیئے جائیں ان کے نزدیک وہ کرپشن نہیں ہے۔ وہ صوبہ جو کبھی پورے ملک کو وسائل فراہم کرتا تھا آج وہ دیوالیہ ہو چکا ہے۔ ٹرانسپرنسی انٹرنیشنل کے نزدیک پنجاب دیوالیہ شاید کرپشن میں کمی ہونے کی وجہ سے ہوا ہے۔
پنجاب کے حکمرانوں کو ایک طریقہ بڑا آتا ہے کہ وہ صحافیوں کو اپنے ساتھ ملانے کا فن خوب جانتے ہیں لہذا وزیر اعلیٰ کوئی بھی ہو لاہور سے خبر کوئی نہیں نکلتی۔ جہاں تک کرپشن میں کمی ہونے کی بات ہے تو دو ذاتی واقعات آپ کو سنا دیتا ہوں۔ راولپنڈی کے ایک دوست کے بھائی کو پولیس نے ایک جھوٹی ایف آئی آر میں ملوث کر دیا۔ ملا کی دوڑ مسجد تک کے مترادف میں نے اپنے دی نیوز کے کرائم رپورٹرسے مدد کی درخواست کی۔ انہوں نے کمال مہربانی سے سی پی او سے بات کی۔ دو دن بعد دوست کے بھائی کا فون آیا کہ آپ سے ایک ضروری مشورہ کرنا ہے۔ ایس ایچ او ایف آئی آر سے نام نکالنے کیلئے ہزاروں روپے مانگ رہا ہے۔ شکیل صاحب اور میں نے متفقہ طور پر ان سے کہا کہ حضور آپ پیسے دیکر یہ کام کرا لیں۔ سفارشوں کے چکر میں آپ جیل جائیں گے۔ایک اور واقعہ سن لیں۔ بڑے عرصے بعد میری بہاؤ الدین زکریا یونیورسٹی کی ایک کلاس فیلوکا فون آیا۔دونوں میاں بیوی کو کاروبار کا شوق چرایا۔ انڈسٹریل ایریا میں ڈپٹی کمشنر لاہور کے دفتر اور ان سے ملحقہ افسروں سے ایک پلاٹ کا نقشہ منظور کروانے کیلئے ان سے جتنے لوگوں نے مال پانی کھایا ہے اگر اس کی تفصیل میں کالم میں لکھ دوں تو ٹرانسپرنسی انٹرنیشنل کے گیلانی صاحب کو احساس ہو کہ ایک آدمی کے نزدیک کرپشن بڑھی ہے یا کم ہوئی ہے۔
بہرحال پنجاب کے بازی گر ہر حال میں میڈیا، عوام اور ٹرانسپرنسی انٹرنیشنل کو صوبے کو دیوالیہ کرنے کے باوجود بھی اپنے حق میں رام کرنے کا فن جانتے ہیں۔ تین سالوں میں وزیر اعلیٰ پنجاب سو ایسے بندے تربیت یافتہ تیارنہیں کر سکے جو جدید انداز میں ان دہشتگردوں کا مقابلہ کریں پھر بھی ان کی چار سو بلے بلے ہوتی ہے۔ میں اور تو کچھ نہیں کہتا لیکن ان سے اتنی درخواست ضرور ہے کہ وہ اپنے پسندیدہ بازیگروں کے درمیان ٹی وی اسکرینوں پر جاری مقابلے بند کرا کر انہیں زوال پذیر پنجابی فلموں میں کسی پروڈیوسر کے ذریعے رول لے دیں۔ لیڈنگ رول رحمان ملک کو بڑھکیں مارنے کیلئے دیا جا سکتا ہے۔ میں گارنٹی دیتا ہوں یوں حکمراں کی دہشتگردوں سے تنگ عوام کو اچھی تفریح فراہم کریں گے
پنجاب کے نئے بازی گر ! …..آخر کیوں؟…رؤف کلاسرا
http://search.jang.com.pk/details.asp?nid=438590
Public perceptions of corruption
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C06%5C03%5Cstory_3-6-2010_pg3_1
Transparency International (TI) has released the findings of the National Corruption Perception Survey 2010, in which it concluded that corruption has increased in Pakistan during the current year compared to 2009. Also, 70 percent of those surveyed think that the current government is more corrupt than the previous one. While one would agree with some of the findings of the report, there are several things that call for clarification. There is no denying that corruption is institutionalised within the system. Therefore, the exposure of commissions and kickbacks involved in the awarding of tenders for development projects do not come as a surprise, nor the high rates of bribery in the land administration department. Nor is the perception of the police, power sector and other departments’ corruption anything new, although they may have changed positions in the corruption hierarchy from previous years. Notably, the judiciary, education and local government departments have risen in corruption as compared to the previous year. There is definitely a need to rein in corruption and ensure adherence to rules and transparency in public transactions, as this forms the basis of good governance and efficient use of public money.
The moot point of the report is bribery figures forwarded by the TI chief while presenting the findings of the survey. According to him, Rs195 billion was misappropriated during 2009 while more than Rs223 billion has been misappropriated during 2010. While the year is still half left, it is surprising how TI could reach this conclusive figure. If the data has been calculated only on the basis of the respondents’ annual expenditure in bribes, then it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. There is so much income disparity throughout the country that it is hard to believe that each household of Pakistan spends an average of Rs10,537 on bribes annually. Even if some help is taken from media reports, the findings cannot be treated as authentic because news reports are not always accurate and sometimes politically motivated.
In the final analysis, this survey represents only public perception, not fact, and should be treated as such. It may be remembered that the same kind of conclusions were drawn during Musharraf’s regime. While public perception may have reported an increase in corruption, it is incumbent upon Transparency International to show a sense of responsibility and not present perceptions as valid facts.
this is like that gallup pakistan poll which concluded that Nawaz Sharif was the most popular politician in Khyber Pahkhtunkhwa 🙂
Actually the sham TIP needs to be exposed. Transparency International is not a joke and these reports go to all major global organisations for analysing the performance of the government. They will not know that no sample was taken from Multan or Bhawalpur. Or that as evident only urban areas were surveyed. This is not something the government should take lightly. An official letter highlighting the malpractice of TIP should be sent to Transparency International.