KASUR, Feb 25: An inquiry committee formed by the district coordination officer (DCO) has found the medical superintendent (MS) of the district headquarters hospital guilty of embezzling over Rs600,000 by purchasing medicines at artificially exaggerated prices in collusion with three officials of the district accounts office.
According to sources, the DCO has sent the report to the Punjab chief secretary and the Directorate of Anti-Corruption Establishment for taking an appropriate action against the delinquent officials.
On receiving complaints regarding irregularities being committed by MS Dr Muhammad Ashraf in purchasing medicines coupled with complaints of misuse of authority, DCO Saeed Akhtar Ansari sought a report from the provincial drug inspector through health executive district officer (EDO) Dr Muhammad Jameel.
The report suggested the involvement of the MS in ‘dirty business’ and the DCO, vide orders dated Nov 23, 2007, formed an inquiry committee consisting of community development EDO Malik Muhammad Iqbal Alita and accounts district officer Rao Abdul Ghuffar Khan.
The inquiry report available with Dawn suggested that the MS and his three accomplices, Attaullaha, a sub-accountant, Muhammad Saleem Baber, an assistant account officer, and Nazir Ahmed Qadri, the district account officer, also violated the provisions of ‘Purchase Manual’, ‘Delegation of Financial Powers Rules’ and ‘Fiscal Instructions’, besides transgressing their authority. It also recommended strict department action against the guilty officials besides retrieving from them the whole amount embezzled.
According to the report, Dr. Ashraf committed first irregularity by embarking on purchasing medicines worth over Rs600,000 through an internal committee formed by himself and that too on prices higher than these were readily available in open market. The Purchase Manual’s chapter 13 contemplated that medicines and store items worth Rs600,000 and above should be procured through a special purchase committee consisting of EDOs of finance and planning and community development and coordination district officer after obtaining approval from the DCO.
The report also highlighted that according to the Punjab Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 2006, the MS, being an officer in category-II, had power to sanction expenditures on purchase of pharmaceuticals up to just Rs50,000 at a time whereas in the present case, Dr Ashraf had misused his authority by stepping into the shoes of his superiors by making purchases worth Rs1.2 million in 10 instalments from Sep 25, 2007 to Oct 20, 2007.
The committee further said that instead of advertising in the press, quotations were obtained directly from medical stores and most of the medicines were purchased from one particular medical store rather than from a manufacturer or a licensed dealer. The report revealed that medicines worth Rs572,655 in open market were purchased by the hospital’s internal committee in Rs1,235,778 and thus Rs663,123 were embezzled and later officials of the district accounts office virtually covered up this irregularity.
The inquiry committee said that the MS and the district accounts officer and others did not appear before it despite repeated telephonic and written requests.