• Chairman of the legislative body orders BIEK, BSEK officials to bring all records in next meeting
• Suspends two boards’ audit officers for failing to provide records

KARACHI: The Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly on Thursday found serious irregularities in recruitment and financial affairs of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) and the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK), commonly known as inter and matric boards, over the past 10 years.

The provincial watchdog also suspended audit officers of the two boards for failing to provide audit records.

The meeting of the PAC was chaired by its chairman Nisar Ahmed Khuhro.

The PAC comprises of six PPP members — Mr Khuhro, Makhdoom Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Qasim Soomro, Sadia Javed, Farukh Ahmed Shah and Khurram Karim Soomro — and only one opposition member, Muhammad Rehan Rajput, who belongs to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council.

At the outset of the sitting, the chairman expressed concern and displeasure when the officials of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) and the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) did not provide complete details of the audit paras and working papers for the period from 2021 to 2024.

“The negligence of the officers in not providing the working papers of the audit paragraphs will not be tolerated,” he remarked, placing Intermediate Board Audit Officer Zahid Ali Lakho and Matriculation Board Audit Officer Syed Shaiq Ali under suspension.

The PAC chairman ordered the boards’ officials to bring all working papers of the audit paragraphs in the next meeting.

During the examination of one of the working papers of the Intermediate Board, it transpired that as many as 11 employees appointed as naib qasid (messenger), gardener, driver and watchman were illegally promoted as junior clerks and Rs13.393 million was spent on them.

Similarly, a Matric Board working paper of 2010 revealed that a retired officer of grade 18 was re-recruited on the post of Director Education Research in Grade-19 as a special case on a one-year contract and he was given Rs2.3 million as a salary during the year-long contract.

The PAC chairman, who conducted the proceedings in the absence of five other members of the committee, also asked Universities and Board Secretary Abbas Baloch about the absence of Intermediate Board chairman in the meeting.

Mr Baloch told that Chairman Naseem Memon had been removed due to his alleged involvement in a harassment case, while the search committee could not appoint new chairman due to the stay order issued by the Sindh High Court.

While postponing the meeting for a week, the PAC chairman said that the Sindh government was providing funds to the education boards so the education boards also had to provide the accounts of the money spent.

He said that mismanagement and corruption will not be tolerated.

KU told to provide audit record of Benazir chair

During the review of the audit paragraphs of the University of Karachi in the meeting, Nisar Khuhro expressed his disappointment over the non-provision of the audit para record related to the Benazir Bhutto Chair established in Karachi University.

He inquired from Vice Chancellor of the Karachi University Dr Khalid M. Iraqi about it. He was informed that although the administrative control of the Benazir Bhutto Chair might be with the university, funding for it was provided directly by the Sindh government.

The PAC chairman then directed the chair management to provide their audit records by the next meeting.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2024