ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: The acting chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, Saeed Ahmed Sargana, said on Monday that NAB had saved Rs300 billion of the exchequer by scrutinising 552 projects worth Rs1,692bn from June 2012 to November this year.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Zero Corruption – 100 per cent Development’, he said another Rs50bn was recovered through enforcement during the same period.

He said the bureau while focusing on its ‘awareness and prevention’ programme established 4,000 character-building societies at universities, colleges and schools across the country.

Mr Sargana urged the government to include a new cadre of ‘procurement’ in official cadres so that corruption which happened during award of contracts could be stopped. The right person should be assigned the right job to improve good governance, he added.

Adil Gilani, adviser to Transparency International Pakistan, said an improvement had been noticed towards efforts for eradication of corruption in the country, but still many reforms were required to get rid of the menace.

He said TIP in collaboration with international organisations had pinpointed deficiencies and suggested measures for improving the system, ensuring rule of law and implementing regulations.

“We have to cover a long distance before reaching a level of satisfaction for eradication of corruption,” he said.

Cesar Guedes, Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, said corruption was an issue that continued to have deleterious impact on everyone, especially the poor and the most vulnerable.

He said corruption diverted funds intended for essential public services, eroded public confidence in the government and discouraged investment by the private sector.

The seminar was jointly organised by NAB and UNODC.