QUETTA: The Balochistan government has decided to send 25 cases of corruption and irregularities in development projects to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and provincial Anti-Corruption Establishment for investigation.

The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani here on Wednesday. The meeting reviewed the performance report of the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team (CMIT).

Parliamentary Secretary and Adviser to the Chief Minister Danesh Kumar, CMIT chairman Haider Ali Shikho, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development Abdul Saboor Kakar, Law Secretary Akbar Harifal, S&GAD Secretary Arshad Majeed and other senior officials attended the meeting.

According to the CMIT’s report, 2,159 schemes were inspected during the last two years. The CMIT in its report recommended sending seven cases of irregularities found in various development schemes to the Anti-Corruption Establishment and 18 others to NAB for investigation. It recommended action against the officials in 82 cases under the Balochistan Employees’ Efficiency and Discipline Act, 2011.

According to the report, the quality of work on 618 development schemes was unsatisfactory, while 127 schemes were declared unsatisfactory. The CMIT inspected 988 development schemes during the current financial year.

The meeting was informed that the CMIT had completed 72 inquiries into the affairs of development schemes since 2018. In view of the CMIT’s recommendations, the meeting decided to refer those schemes to NAB for investigation in which advance payments were made without completing the projects.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2020