20000314

Accountability process

ICMAP offers

services to carry out

research studies

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The ICMAP Working Group on fight against corruption has urged the government to accelerate the process of accountability and offered its services for carrying out research studies to control corruption in the country.

The group which met under the chairmanship of ICMAP President, M. H. Asif on Monday said that the present government had taken the initiative in several areas such as poverty alleviation, good governance, recovery of defaulted loans, documentation of economy and using privatisation proceeds on retiring debts. It was seen as a compliment that the measures taken by the government were based on proposals made by the ICMAP on October 22, 1999.

The group however, observed that several other suggestions of ICMAP had received mere lip service and concrete action was still far from sight. Steps were needed to be taken to demolish feudalism and VIP culture, conversion of bearer instruments into registered ones, enhanced role of SECP and stock exchanges for monitoring non-performing units, performance evaluation of industrial units by competent management accountants, withdrawal of certain exemptions under the Income Tax Ordinance, performance audit and MIS in the government.

The ICMAP Group appealed to the government to avail of the professional services of cost and management accountants in all areas of reforms including re-engineering of corporate financial reporting system for broad based transparency.

The group has set up various task forces to prepare working papers on defaulted loans, reforms in civil service remuneration policy, transparent privatisation, corporate reporting, and public awareness. Final proposals in this regard will be sent to the government very soon.

The meeting was attended among others by Dr. Shahid Hasan Siddiqui, Azhar Hassan Siddiqui, Muhammad Sharif, and Syed Fakhr-e-Alam.