KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday decided to carry out a special audit of all public sector universities in the province instead of the past practice of audit on a test check basis.

The PAC, which met at the old assembly building, while considering the audit report of the NED university for the year 2009-10, on a university suggestion also decided that only in-camera talks between auditors and officials concerned would be allowed during the audits.

The meeting, which was presided over by PAC chairman Saleem Raza Jalbani, also endorsed a suggestion given by its member Sardar Ali Shah that the PAC chief should hold a meeting with vice chancellors of all varsities to remove any misgivings about rules which university syndicate and senate are said to often use to bypass laws whenever their representatives are asked about financial irregularities.

NED university vice chancellor Dr M. Afzal Haque said this would make accounts transparent but at the same time stringent rules would render public sector varsities unable to compete with private universities which are being run as corporate institutions with more autonomy and far better salaries being paid to their faculties. Public sector varsities, however, were supposed to not only produce quality graduates but also arrange finance to run their affairs because the Higher Education Commission is only providing 50 per cent funds of their budget.

While considering some audit paras, Audit Director General Ghulam Akbar Sohu said that the university management could not provide particular reference of the power of the university senate or syndicate under which it could bypass government rules to allow allowances, advance payments and purchase of over Rs100,000 without meeting tender formalities. He said the government had stopped the practice of leave encashment to its employees in 2005 but the university paid Rs9.349 million as leave encashment to its employees. He asked the PAC to order its recovery in instalments.

The vice chancellor said this amount was paid to over 2,000 employees and many of them had already retired as such it was not possible to recover the amount.

The PAC chairman suggested to him that a summary be put up to the chief minister to condone the same by directing the finance department.

PAC member Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that there was need for the standing committee of the assembly to revisit the university law after the transfer of the universities under the supervision of the chief minister. Previously, university accounts were scrutinised by the HEC and vice chancellors were appointed by the governor, he said. But the new legislation allowed a select committee to recommend an eligible scholar on merit for the appointment of vice chancellor after advertising the position, he added.

Khairunnisa Mughal and Sorath Thebo said that under the rules any purchase involving Rs100,000 and above could be made only after inviting tenders and why the advance payment was made to the faculty for emergency purchases and what emergency was involved for buying computers and furniture.

Lal Chnad Ukrani said the PAC could not settle the paras ignoring the irregularities pointed out in the audit report unless the documents were produced in support of the expenditure indicating that the formalities were met.

After the consideration of 10 out of total 18 paras in which only one para involving Rs1.23 million was settled, the PAC chief suggested to the university management to fix a meeting with the Audit DG to sort out the paras by providing relevant documents which would be taken up in the next meting along with the remaining paras.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014