PESHAWAR: Health department will investigate purchase of insecticides at higher rate for anti-dengue campaign which has caused a loss of more than Rs43.37 million to government exchequer, according to official sources.

Sources told this scribe that the purchase was made by Directorate General Health Services, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during the financial year 2023-24 to put brakes on the outbreak of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever in the province. They said that insecticides were procured at a higher price despite the fact that the same product was available in local market at a lower rate.

They said that health department was making procurements to implement Dengue Action Plan as the province was endemic to the mosquitoes-borne ailment. They added that insecticides played vital role in elimination of stagnant water pools that were the breeding sites of mosquitoes.

Sources said that during the annual audit of the accounts record of Directorate General Health Services for the financial year 2023-24, it was observed that an amount of Rs53,487,500 was paid to M/S Tufail Enterprises on February 29, 2024 for the procurement of 2,750 litres of Lambda Cyhalothrin 2.5% EC, manufactured by Syngenta.

Audit report shows loss of more than Rs43.37m to govt exchequer

However, scrutiny of records revealed that the local office shortlisted two firms including M/S Bio Pharma and M/S Tufail Enterprises for the procurement of the insecticides, they said. The contract was awarded to M/S Tufail Enterprises for supplying imported Lambda Cyhalothrin 2.5% EC at a rate of Rs19, 450 per litre, they added.

However, it was revealed from the website of Syngenta that it also produced the same product locally under the name Karate Lambda Cyhalothrin 2.5% EC, which was available at a rate of Rs3,800, sources said. Despite the fact, the local office opted to purchase the imported variant, resulting into a loss of Rs43.037 million to government exchequer, they added.

According to audit report, the department paid Rs53.487 million for buying the imported Syngenta Lambda Cyhalothrin 2.5% EC that was available for Rs10,450,000 in the local market. The difference between the rates of the two products was Rs43 million.

The auditors said that the loss occurred due to purchase of insecticides at higher rate and action should be taken against the responsible people. Additionally, they said that the lapse occurred due to weak procurement management, which resulted in loss to government, sources said.

They said that as per Para 23 of General Financial Rules, every public officer was personally responsible for any loss sustained by government through fraud or negligence on his own part or on the part of subordinate disbursing officers.

Sources said that the people, who conducted the audit, also sought reply from relevant officials but no reply was given to them. They recommended conducting a fact-finding inquiry to investigate the loss, identifying individuals responsible for the loss, affecting recoveries and taking corrective actions to avoid such lapses in the future.

Additionally, they said that procurement practices should be reviewed and strengthened to ensure transparency and achieve cost-efficiency in public spending.

Sources said that government allocated the amount to enforce Dengue Action Plan in the province every year as the vector-born disease occurred in March and continued till October. “Bulk of the allocated amount is used on purchase of insecticides and bed nets and if the recommendations are taken into account, the government can save millions of rupees,” they added.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025