15 January 2005	Saturday	04 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: The Senate Standing Committee on Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis was informed here on Thursday that bureaucrats subverted the implementation of directives issued by the chief executive secretariat recommending specific action against the management of an OPF girls college for financial and administrative irregularities.

Documents placed before the Senate committee revealed that some officials of the labour ministry were in league with the college administration to deprive the national exchequer of millions of rupees which were to be deposited in the welfare fund of the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation.

The documents placed before the committee in response to a list of probing questions sent by a committee member, Senator Enver Baig, showed that a number of teaching and administrative staff in the college was working even after attaining the age of super annuation and some of them were even more than 70 years old.

The officials admitted before the committee that over the years, the college arbitrarily got out of the administrative control of its parent department, OPF, and dissolved the management committee headed by the OPF managing director and removed the financial adviser of the ministry being representative of the finance ministry from the college board.

The documents showed that some officials of the labour ministry subverted the implementation of the directives of the establishment division, the law ministry and the chief executive secretariat regarding the irregularities in the OPF Girls College.

The officials accepted before the committee that former secretary, ministry of labour, Farhat Hussain, had been paid an amount of Rs80,000 per month as consultant "for a short duration."

The documents showed that the management opened branches of the OPF Girls College Islamabad, in various sectors but did not account for the funds to the main account of the college nor the OPF accounts.

A departmental inquiry was ordered by the chief executive secretariat against some members of the college administration with directives for proper audit of its accounts.

The chief executive secretariat had also directed for audit of the new schools opened in the name of OPF. However, the committee was not informed about the actions taken by the ministry on the chief executive's directive.

In response to a specific question relating to utilization of Rs110 million collected as fee from graduate and postgraduate students, the committee was told, "we unfortunately are not aware of the affairs of the college as they are kept as closely guarded secret from the OPF."

The committee suspected irregular utilization of Rs50 million in this account only. The committee was told that a board member of the school was obliged by hiring a house at a cost of Rs35,000 per month.

"The house lease agreement was signed between the Talented Girl Student Trust and the OPF Girls College Islamabad." The Trust was established by a member of the school board, the record revealed.

The OPF Girls College in the written reply to the committee described as "wrong and baseless" an allegation that a luxury vehicle had been put at the disposal of a lady senator to lobby on behalf of some members of the college administration.

Our Reporter adds: Meanwhile Dr Noor Jehan Panezai, MNA, has sought the help of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in maintaining OPF Girls College and University's autonomous status.

She said the institution should not be made a part of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation. In a letter Dr Panezai stated that the government was taking keen interest in protecting the rights of women and also for the development of the overseas Pakistanis.

Dr Panezai lauded the services of Prof Rabia Noor, Principal, OPF Girls College and Executive Director Educational Complex for making the college a top most educational institution and termed her "a prominent educationist of the country".

When she was given this task, only 5 expatriates sent their children for education in Islamabad now due to her efforts 4,000 students are studying in the postgraduate college which is going to be converted into a university, she said.