LAHORE, July 6: The Punjab Assembly's Public Accounts Committee-I on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over penalizing of subordinates by the health authorities for the alleged fault of higher-ups.

"Higher officials plunder the national exchequer and hold their subordinates responsible for it, which is unjust," the committee observed, and directed the health secretary to re-investigate a scam of purchase of expired medicines worth over Rs7.726 million by the Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.

The committee, chaired by Azeem Nuri Ghuman, observed that the hospital authorities had dismissed four clerks, including Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Ramzan and Gulzar Butt, but exonerated the higher-ups involved in the process.

It asked the secretary to look into the matter and fix responsibility on the high official(s) involved in the scam and report to the body within 30 days. The PAC also directed the health secretary to report within 15 days why the Allied Hospital authorities neither lodged any FIR with the police station concerned about snatching of a hospital ambulance nor they held any formal inquiry into the incident by themselves.

The ambulance, costing around Rs600,000, had been reportedly driven away by armed men when it was on way to Gojra town from the hospital. The PAC also sought recovery of Rs1.634 million from doctors, who had been nominated to serve at the Allama Iqbal Hospital, Sialkot, in 1998-99 during night shifts.

The amount had been allocated as special allowance for the practitioners, who were supposed to serve at the hospital. The doctors drew the amount, but did not discharge their duties even for a day.

The committee took a serious note of 18 recruitments by the Multan health director in violation of ban by the provincial government. It demanded that the director must be penalized for this illegal act by recovering Rs1.918 million drawn by the 18 illegally recruited employees as salaries before being sacked by the relevant authorities.

The PAC also directed suspension of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (Bahawalpur) storekeeper for theft of Rs543,000 worth instruments from the hospital stores. It directed that the amount must be recovered from the storekeeper.