TIP releases NCPS 2022 report: Police, judiciary among top three most corrupt institutions

ISLAMABAD: Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) in its National Corruption Perception Survey (NCPS) 2022 found police the most corrupt, tendering and contracting was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, judiciary 3rd most corrupt while education has climbed to 4th most corrupt since last NCPS 2021.

The NCPS 2022 released at 01:00am on Friday also showed no-confidence in anti-corruption entities including NAB. At the national level, the majority of people considered anti-corruption institutions’ role as ‘ineffective’ in curbing corruption in Pakistan, the report said.

The following are the key findings of the NCPS 2022: Police remain the most corrupt sector, tendering and contracting was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, judiciary 3rd most corrupt while education has climbed to become 4th most corrupt since the last NCPS 2021. The provincial breakdown of the three most corrupt sectors reveals the following:

In Sindh, education remained the most corrupt sector, police was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, while tendering and contracting 3rd most corrupt. In Punjab, police remained the most corrupt sector, tendering and contracting was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, while judiciary 3rd most corrupt.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), judiciary remained the most corrupt sector, tendering and contracting was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, while police 3rd most corrupt.

In Balochistan, tendering and contracting remained the most corrupt sector, police was seen as the 2nd most corrupt, while judiciary the 3rd most corrupt.

2. At the national level, the majority of 45 percent of people considered anti-corruption institutions’ role as ‘ineffective’ in curbing corruption in Pakistan. In Sindh, 35 percent Pakistanis considered the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) role as effective in curbing corruption. In Punjab (31 percent), KP (61 percent) and Balochistan (58 percent) Pakistanis considered the role of “none of the anti-corruption institutions” to be effective in curbing corruption in Pakistan.

3. Pakistanis continued to believe that corruption in public service delivery is high. According to the citizens, the three most corrupt public services for which people have to pay bribes are contracts of roads (40 percent), access to uninterrupted electricity (28 percent) and access to clean drinking water (17 percent). In Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, maintenance of roads tops the list of public service delivery perceived by the citizens to be the most corrupt. While in KP, majority citizens (47 percent) consider access to uninterrupted electricity to be the most corrupt public service delivery.

4. The three most important causes of corruption, according to NCPS 2022 are delayed decisions in corruption cases (31 percent), use of state institutions by governments for their personal gain (26 percent) and incompetence of the government (19 percent). In Sindh (43 percent) and Punjab (29 percent) citizens consider “use of state institutions by governments for their personal gain” as the most potent reason for corruption in Pakistan. While in KP (43 percent) and Balochistan (32 percent) consider “delay in decisions of corruption cases” as the main reason for corruption in Pakistan.

5. As measures to curb corruption, 33 percent Pakistanis at the national level say corruption should be punishable by life imprisonment, 28 percent Pakistanis say all government officials, politicians, military officers, judges etc. should disclose their assets to the public, and 25 percent say corruption cases should be heard in NAB, FIA and anti-corruption courts on daily basis and decided in 6 months.

In Sindh 39 percent citizens believe that in order to curb corruption, corruption cases should be heard in NAB, FIA and anti-corruption courts on a daily basis and decided in 6 months. In Punjab (32 percent) and KP (38 percent) citizens feel that corruption should be punishable by life time imprisonment in order to combat corruption. While in Balochistan, 33 percent citizens opine that in order to control corruption, the government should immediately make it mandatory for all government officials, politicians, military officers, judges, etc, to disclose their assets to the public.

6. The survey also sheds light on the devastating floods of 2022 and the need for transparency and accountability in the utilisation of funds and response to floods. At national level, about 62 percent of Pakistanis considered the role of local NGOs as effective and better during the recent floods 2022.

7. Large population of Pakistanis (70 percent) believes that the funds/aid were not distributed transparently during the recent floods in Pakistan and 60 percent of Pakistanis believe that the donations and relief operations of the NGOs working in flood relief activities should be more transparent. Overwhelming population 88 percent of the population believes that details of donations and expenditure of all NGOs should be publicly available on their websites.

8. Significant portion of population (77 percent) finds it difficult to obtain public information from public bodies under Right to Information laws. The provincial breakdown reveals that in Sindh (87 percent), Punjab (83 percent), KP (71 percent) and Balochistan (68 percent) citizens face difficulty when it comes to accessing public information from the government departments.

9. Majority of Pakistanis (64 percent) say that Pakistan has not benefited from the IMF agreement dated 12th May 2019.

10. At the national level, 54 percent of citizens believe that the news channels reporting is biased.