**Land services, police most corrupt
in Pakistan: Transparency International
**
KARACHI: According to a public opinion poll by Transparency International (TI) released on Tuesday, corrupt practices, especially among the police and government departments, are perceived to be on the rise in Pakistan.
The survey by Transparency International categorised different sectors of the Pakistani society including the police, public officials, political parties, the parliament, medical and health services, the judiciary, the education system, business and private sectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the media, military and religious groups over their involvement in corrupt practices.
The survey with 1,000 respondents showed that the police department and public officials were the most corrupt with 86 per cent, followed by political parties with 84 per cent, the parliament with 76 per cent, medical services and judiciary with 66 per cent, the education system with 64 per cent and and the NGOs with 62 per cent.
Religious groups were found to be least corrupt with 54 per cent, followed by the military and the media.
The survey also revealed that the most Pakistanis paid bribes when they came into contact with the land services department. Police was second in taking bribes with 65 per cent, the judicial system with 36 per cent, and the education department with 16 per cent.
Full Report
Corruption has bloomed into an industry in Pakistan with Police being one of the top performer in the bribery sector. Given the culture and system of police, I do not see the trending reserving any time soon.
One thing I must appreciate about police is that you don’t always have to pay them heavily to get off the hook — 20, 50, 100 rupees work perfectly. They are very humble on roads.
