THE FACE OF CORRUPTION WE FAIL TO SEE!  WHEN INCOMPETENCE RULES

In Pakistan, corruption is perhaps the only subject that almost every section of society, every institution and every individual seems eager to discuss. Politicians, government officials, intellectuals, analysts and ordinary citizens are all seen raising their voices against corruption. Newspapers publish articles, television channels host talk shows, and social media is flooded with videos exposing corruption. Almost everyone seems busy accusing someone else of being corrupt. But the fundamental question is, have we ever tried to understand corruption in all its forms and dimensions?

In our society, the concept of corruption has been reduced to such a narrow definition that, for an ordinary person, taking or giving money in exchange for getting a legitimate task done is considered the main form of corruption. Similarly, using a political connection or asking an influential person to make a phone call to get a job done is also commonly recognized as corruption. However, countless other forms of corruption, hidden behind the appearance of professionalism, administrative efficiency, development projects and public service, are often not even recognized as corruption.

The reality is that corruption is not limited to taking or giving bribes. Deliberately neglecting official duties, arriving late at work, leaving before the completion of duty hours, misusing authority, transferring one’s responsibilities to others and using public resources for personal interests are also different forms of corruption. 

Similarly, when the head of an institution deliberately appoints incompetent individuals to important positions, ignores deserving and qualified employees, or distributes positions and powers among relatives, friends and personal favorites, it is also a serious form of administrative corruption.

Government positions are not the personal property of institutional heads, nor is the public budget meant to be used according to their personal wishes. These institutions are established to serve the needs of millions of citizens. When their resources and responsibilities are handed over to incompetent people, the damage is not limited to one institution, the entire nation suffers. However, there is another face of corruption that is perhaps more dangerous than many of these practices. It is a form of mental and moral corruption in which a person involved in dishonest practices not only starts considering his unlawful actions legitimate but also presents them as his rightful entitlement, compensation for additional effort or a benefit attached to his position.

At this stage, corruption is no longer merely about stealing money. It becomes a transformation of conscience, in which a person no longer considers even his own dishonest actions to be wrong.

Consider the example of a road construction project. Let’s suppose, a contract is awarded, a specific budget is approved, and the estimated cost includes all the necessary activities, such as filling the ground with soil, repairing potholes, laying bricks, pouring concrete, levelling the surface, compacting the road and cleaning the area. But the game of corruption begins when different stages of the same project are presented as separate additional tasks, with each activity becoming an opportunity to claim additional financial benefits.

Two bricks are laid, and a separate payment is claimed. Ten more bricks are laid, and another payment is demanded. A pothole is filled, and that becomes a separate bill. Soil is added, and another commission is claimed. Cleaning and road compaction are also presented as separate opportunities to demand additional money.

The question is simple: Are these activities not already part of road construction? Should their costs not have been included in the original project estimate and contract? If so, on what grounds can they be presented again as additional work to obtain further financial benefits?

Of course, dividing a project into different cost categories is not corruption in itself. The real wrongdoing occurs when work already included in an approved project is presented again as additional work, fictitious activities are billed, quantities and costs are deliberately inflated, or payment is obtained more than once for the same work. This is the subtle mechanism that has turned corruption into an organized method of financial exploitation. A single project is divided into several smaller activities, and each activity is turned into a separate source of financial gain. Where a legitimate additional expense or payment might amount to five rupees, inflated estimates and multiple billing categories may be used to extract one hundred rupees.

Even more disturbing is the fact that those involved in such practices have developed their own justifications. They argue that they were awarded a contract only for road construction, whereas filling potholes, adding soil, cleaning the area and laying bricks are additional tasks. Therefore, they claim that each of these activities deserves a separate payment and commission. Yet they know perfectly well that these activities are essential parts of the original project. But once an individual mentally accepts an unlawful benefit as legitimate, he no longer feels that he is doing anything wrong.

It is much like presenting something evil in such a convincing manner that a person begins to see it not as wrongdoing but as a virtue or a rightful entitlement. This is the most dangerous psychology of corruption. When people become so comfortable with their dishonesty that they start justifying it to their own conscience, the importance of law, ethics and accountability gradually loses its meaning for them. Another example can be seen in development projects, where budgets are deliberately inflated beyond actual requirements, minor works are presented as expensive development projects, substandard materials are used despite full payments being claimed, and a significant portion of public funds is distributed among selected individuals through mutual arrangements and personal interests.

For instance, suppose a road should realistically cost one hundred rupees to construct, but its estimated cost is deliberately increased to one thousand rupees, while the actual work is also carried out below the required standards. The public will see a road being constructed. Official records will show the project as completed, and the relevant officials will proudly present it as an achievement. However, the national treasury will already have suffered a huge loss. There is another dangerous aspect of this practice. Sometimes, individuals holding senior positions surround themselves with people who are always willing to agree with them and follow their instructions. Competent and independent-minded professionals are ignored, while obedient individuals who are willing to serve personal interests are appointed to important positions.

In this way, the distribution of positions does not remain limited to favoritism; it becomes the foundation of an organized system of financial and administrative corruption.

We must understand that appointing an incompetent person to an important position is not merely a violation of merit. It is also an injustice to the millions of citizens for whose benefit that institution was established.

If Pakistan genuinely wants to eliminate corruption, it must move beyond this traditional and limited understanding of the problem. Accountability should not be restricted to individuals caught taking or offering bribes. It must also extend to those who damage national institutions through their positions, authority, decisions, incompetence, favoritism and financial irregularities. The budgets of development projects, approved estimates, actual expenditures, quality of work and payments must be subjected to independent technical and financial audits. It must also be examined whether a particular activity has already been paid for and, if so, on what grounds the same work was billed again.

Similarly, appointments to important government positions must be based on qualifications, experience, competence and actual performance rather than personal loyalty and connections.

Ultimately, we must accept a simple but important reality: corruption is not only what someone puts into his own pocket from the national treasury. It is also what someone takes away from the entire nation through incompetence, poor decisions, favoritism and the misuse of authority.

When an individual steals money from the national treasury, he commits a financial crime. But when someone places an entire institution in the hands of incompetent people to serve personal interests, he is, in reality, damaging the future of generations to come.

And perhaps this is the very face of corruption that we fail to see, even when it is right before our eyes!