TAXILA: Three vehicles worth millions of rupees of health department were sold in scrap by officials of the health department without going through standard operating procedure.

The scam unearthed in Pindigheb town of Attock district where three Potohar jeeps were sold in scrap without going through auction.

The official sources said these three Suzuki Potohar Jeeps were handed over to health department Pindigheb under National Health Programme for official use.

Later, the vehicles were thrown in the residential compound of the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where they have been lying in the open since 2009.

The official sources said that these vehicles required little maintenance and could have been put in provincial transport pool for further allocation so that the vehicles could be saved from being scrapped.

Sources claimed that the officials had kept the district government officials and provincial health authorities in the dark about these vehicles while seeking new ones for their use.

Sources further said that heads of the departments were keen to buy new vehicles while ignoring old one, which could have been repaired.

However, a few days ago some officials gave away the vehicles to a ragman who tore them apart and sold its spare parts into scrap.

No standard operating procedure (SoP) was adopted for proper auction or disposal of the vehicle in sheer violation of rules.

Interestingly, no single penny was deposited in the state kitty and payment made by ragman landed into the pockets of some officials of the health department.

When contacted, Chief executive district health authority Dr Asad Ismail confirmed that rules had been violated in disposal of these three vehicles.

He said that the district health department would probe the issue and take action against officers found responsible for the negligence.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023