THE term white-collar crime was coined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 to mean a non-violent crime committed by business and government professionals during the course of their work. This form of corruption is a major challenge in Pakistan.
White-collar crime causes severe loss to the national exchequer and deprives people of theirbasichealth and educational facilities, without which upward social mobility is not possible. It results in weak infrastructure which causes misery to the public.
Sometimes, owing to the mismanagement of public funds, hospitals are deprived of life-saving drugs which can be lifethreatening to the people needing them. In spite of all this, white-collar crime is considered less serious, and ways are devised to create escape route for whitecollar criminals in the form of bargain options.
White-collar crime costs society more than burglaries, robberies and muggings put together.
White-collar crime is not considered significantly serious perhaps because the media portrays it as less serious. Also, the police and courts regard white-collar crime as less serious.
