PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa anti-corruption establishment has unveiled the provincial government’s “Amr Bil Maroof” programme to prevent and control corruption through people’s awareness and character building.

Adviser to the chief minister on ACE Musaddiq Abbasi told reporters here on Monday that the initiative was launched on the instructions of the ruling PTI’s founder, Imran Khan, and after the approval of the provincial cabinet.

“Creating awareness against corruption is one of the ACE’s most important objectives. This Amr Bil Maroof programme will be of a permanent nature, while it will be revised and improved annually where the need arises,” he said.

Mr Abbasi said the programme would focus on building the character of future leadership by bringing changes to school and university syllabus, forming coalition groups at district, tehsil and village levels to create awareness against ill-effects of corruption and corrupt practices, creating “ethics cells” in public sector associations and unions as well as the Amr Bil Maroof Cell at the Auqaf department against corruption, and marking anti-corruption weeks.

CM aide says new law to tangibly increase conviction rate in graft cases

He also announced the formation of special groups to further the anti-corruption cause.

The adviser said the ACE had planned a programme to honour honest people.

“A programme titled Integrity Icon is being planned. After a detailed survey, we will invite people with good reputation for appreciating their work,” he said, adding that such people would be appointed to the “required positions.”

He appreciated the media for helping ACE work against corruption in the last six months and said anti-corruption groups would be formed at the press club.

About the PTI’s accountability committee, the adviser said that the panel checked the provincial government’s performance for mismanagement and that it was answerable to the party’s founder and not the chief minister or any cabinet member.

He said corruption awareness and prevention and law enforcement were three major organs of the ACE. He said the previous law focused on government servants but the draft law, Anti-Corruption Force Act, 2025, could hold the accountability of the chief minister, public representatives, land grabbers, as well as people with “unexplained” wealth.

Mr Abbasi said there was no opposition to the proposed law from bureaucracy as it protected bureaucrats for any mistake during the decision-making process. He said errors were possible in that process but any decision with mala fide intention would be questioned.

He said the role of the National Accountability Bureau in the fight against corruption was almost over as almost all white collar crimes were beyond its jurisdiction.

The aide to the CM said the law was being deliberated and would be passed so that it remained effective for decades.

“Right now, the conviction rate at ACE is one per cent, but with this draft law, we want to take it up to 80 per cent,” he said.

Mr Abbasi alleged that the last caretaker government had left a mess and dozens of inquiries were authorised.

He added that Rs2 billion was allegedly embezzled in the medicine purchase, with the matter being probed.

“The embezzled amount could increase to Rs4 billion,” he said, adding that matters of the forest and food department are also being probed.

“Whenever there is a government, which is not answerable to anyone, there will certainly be corruption,” he said.

The adviser to the chief minister said that special investigation wings were formed and inquiries launched leading to the recovery of Rs2.5 billion cash and 2,500 kanals of land.

He said the government made a high-level accountability committee where ministers were called and questioned about bad governance and corruption in their respective departments.

Mr Abbasi said the programme proposed the teaching of the Holy Quran mandatory from grade 1 to university levels, while the syllabus would have national poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal’s poetry and chapters about Islamic history.

He said it was mandatory for schools to have a library, which would be used to build the capacity of readers as future leaders.

The aide to the CM said a seminar would be held on personality building, while a drive against corruption would be carried out every six months. He added that youth would be asked twice a year to suggest ways to control and prevent corruption.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2025