11 July 2004	Sunday	22 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 10: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Saturday directed the health ministry to develop and strengthen a viable accounting procedure for budgeting, pre-auditing , inventory control and assets management for the programmes being funded by the United Nations and other foreign agencies.

A press release issued here said the committee in its meeting, presided over by MNA Malik Allah Yar Khan, took up the special audit reports on accounts of National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care (NPFP) and Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) for the years 1995-2000.

The committee also took a serious notice of the irregular expenditure of Rs58.064 million incurred by the NPFP on printing works. The audit department informed the committee that printing work was ordered to private firms in contravention of the rules laid down by the Cabinet Division.

Accepting the justification of the health ministry, the committee asked the audit department to verify whether the procedure adopted for the award of the contracts was transparent and report to it within one month.

The committee also ordered recovery of unauthorized payment of allowances of Rs1,210 million paid to the employees of the health ministry for the NPFP funds and expenditure of Rs0.639 million incurred on misuse of vehicles under intimation to the committee.

The committee also regularised various audit observations subject to confirmation by the audit department and as recommended by the Departmental Accounts Committees (DAC).

The committee referred the case of loss of Rs32.334 million caused due to sale of soybean seed by PODB to Solvex Industries Pakistan at reduced rates to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

According to the details provided by the audit department, the PODB entered into a contract for sale of soybean with the said firm, which failed to comply with the contractual obligations.

However, giving undue advantage to the said firm, the PODB entered into a second and a third contract at reduced rates, causing a colossal loss of Rs32.334 million to the national exchequer.

The committee also constituted a three-member sub-committee with MNA Syed Qurban Ali Shah MNA as its convenor to probe into the loss of Rs3.70 million caused due to misappropriation of government stocks and loss of Rs18.934 million caused due to unauthorized/irregular import of defective hybrid sunflower seed from Australia.

The sub-committee has been assigned the task to verify the contentions of the ministry of food and PODB and to suggest action against persons responsible within one month.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Mohammad Safdar Shakir, Major Tanvir Hussain Syed, Ghulam Rasool Sahi, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Wasi Zafar, Prof Asiya Azeem, Syed Qurban Ali Shah, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar apart from the Deputy Auditor General of Pakistan, Accountant General of Pakistan, secretary ministry of health, secretary ministry of food and agriculture and other officials of the departments concerned.