Pakistan’s latest attempt to quantify corruption arrived in Islamabad this week with fanfare–the country’s first homegrown Index of Transparency and Accountability in Pakistan (iTAP). Launched by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with global pollster Ipsos, iTAP aims to gauge public trust in institutions. The initial findings have delivered a jarring paradox wherein, despite rampant distrust, a majority of citizens report that their everyday interactions with public institutions are corruption-free.
This disconnect between perception and personal experience speaks volumes. Surveys confirm that corruption is viewed as widespread and entrenched across the state–from the thana (police station) to the kutcheri (courts)–with police, courts and procurement departments topping the list of perceived offenders. Decades of broken promises have conditioned citizens to believe that any clean transaction is an anomaly, not the new normal.
Still, it would be unfair to say no reforms have been attempted. The past few years have seen high-profile accountability drives and quieter, technocratic fixes to improve governance. Consider the land bureaucracy, for instance, where the colonial-era patwar system of deed-keeping, notorious for flaws, shortcomings and corrupt practices, has now been replaced by a digitised version. Likewise, the government has leaned on technology and data to expose graft. National Database (NADRA) verifications have revealed armies of ghost employees drawing salaries for doing nothing. Reforms like these show that change is possible.
And yet public cynicism persists, fueled by recurrent scandals that make headlines. One need only recall the Pakistan International Airlines pilot licence fiasco of 2020 to realise how such cases send a chill through the public, reinforcing the fear that no matter how many surveys or speeches take place, the rot in the system endures.
It is equally clear that no institution should consider itself above scrutiny. An index like iTAP, if sustained and publicised over the years, can help all pillars of Pakistan identify where they are falling short or making gains. However, it will lead to real progress only if ordinary citizens actually engage with these findings. This is where media literacy and civic awareness matter. Rather than cherry-pick figures to score points on talk shows, the media and civil society should use the data to spark honest conversations about how to clean up governance.
Finally, a defence of institutions need not mean denial of their flaws. Pointing out an institution’s failures is not an attack on it, but arguably the highest form of loyalty is holding it to the standards it professes. Pakistan’s state organs have proud histories and vital roles as the average citizen simply wants them to live up to their own ideals. There are countless honest officers in the bureaucracy, upright judges on the bench, and dutiful soldiers in uniform. They deserve a system that rewards integrity and punishes those who betray the public trust.
The launch of iTAP is a chance, however small, to start changing the story. It gives Pakistan a baseline to measure itself against, year after year. What matters now is follow-through. *