Causes of corruption and its remedy

Corruption is known as a snake which is continually poisoning the human mind ever since they are interacting with each other and are striving to live a better life on earth. Widespread of corruption has caused disappointment and discontent among the community. The machinery of government gets rusted and ceases to work in the intended manner. Corruption decreases respect for law and sense of loyalty to the government. In a society governed by corrupt officials, the whole system of moral, ethical and religious values is impaired. The distinction between right and wrong disappears. Revolutions and military takeovers become common. Today every student of history knows that one of the causes of the downfall of nations has been corruption. Corruption can be described as the use of office money for ones own benefit. From this definition we can infer the main cause of corruption i.e. lust and greed. The person who is corrupt tends to extract superfluous benefit from everything which comes in his way. He has a lust for money, money and more money. When in an organization, there is corruption and use of bribery from the top to bottom then every new employ also feels that gathering extra for ones own self is no big deal. They dont consider it as a crime. Some important factors that contribute to the prevalence of corruption differ from country to country. Those that are common to most countries including Pakistan can be included in to a whole list. The general economic condition of the country is poor and everybody tries to feather his own nest. Patriotism has far been lost from the hearts of people and they have become selfish. They are looting the country and sucking its roots like leaches and this tells us that why there is no unity and harmony in the country and everybody wants to warm their own accounts with cash. An important cause of corruption is the rates of salary of public functionaries. People are not given wages according to the work they do. Salaries are very low, and that is why people are tempted to accept bribes. The general price level and the standard of living are very high and such conditions prevent honest work from a person. Social conditions and customs that are made part of our fake identity of our culture demands lavish expenditure of money. There exists no strong opinion against corruption; it has been accepted as a common thing. In small cities and towns people have same standard of living but now the bread earners of many families prefer to go to foreign countries like Dubai and Saudi Arabia to earn a living. When all the people in the neighborhood observe the high standards of living in the home next door they are also tempted to change their financial conditions and for this they use the short cut i.e. corruption. Laws that are made are not strictly followed and they are conferred on the public servants to have vast powers and discretions. These public servants take advantage of that and are dipped in corruption from tip to toe. Lastly, there are no adequate means to prevent corruption or punish the law breakers. So the government should introduce proper punishment systems which should be made equal for all, even the ruling class of the country having high authorities.

To remove corruption from the society, a complete change of the political, social and economic system is necessary. This change will not occur in a day or two but it will require a consistent hard work by all of us. The first thing that can be done is to revise our lessons of honesty that are being given to us by Allah and our Prophet (P.B.U.H). The minds of the people should be changed, by the prevalence of moral values. The people who are found to be the main cause of corruption should be immediately sent to the gallows. This will help to remove the poisonous snakes in the country and it will also be set as an example for other people. So this action can help to evoke catharsis among people. We need a strong leadership to cure corruption. If the leader is morally honest and free from the dirt of corruption then he can surely devise plans to rule his country by fair means. He will act as a motivator for the nation and he can also unite the country in this regard. The new government that the leader will make has to rely on permanent services for its day to day administration. Unless the motive or inducement for corruption is removed, corruption will continue. Wide discretionary powers should be taken away from the individual officials so that the lesson of equality should be imprinted on their hearts. The Anti-corruption department should be made more effective. This can be done with the help of strict check on each individuals activities and the law-breakers should be punished severely and dealt with iron-hand. There should be proper education in the country because illiterate people are more seen to be corrupted as they are less educated that means they are less skilled so they prefer to make surplus money by other means as well. We should strive hard in order to achieve our goal and focus on all the remedies stated above so that one day we can see our country free from all sorts of corruption Inshallah.