LAHORE, Aug 6: The Punjab government allocated only Rs1,000 for house building advance in the budget for the current fiscal year, Accountant-General Wazir Ahmad Qureshi said on Friday.

At present, the provincial government has 110,000 gazetted and 800,000 non-gazetted employees on its payroll. Mr Qureshi told a female teacher of Bahawalnagar at the open forum here that it seemed that the scheme had been wound up.

The finance department approved several cases of house building advance but did not give budget to the AG office. No government employee has been paid house building advance since December last.

Shams Kausar of the Government Girls Community Model School had informed Mr Qureshi that the finance department approved Rs50,000 house building advance on January 6 but she did not get payment despite several visits to the AG office.

Mr Qureshi said the retired employees, who had not been paid pension and other dues because of any reason, should contact Punjab Public Accounts Committee-I chairman Azeem Noori Ghumman along with documents so that their cases could be cleared.

The AG said Mr Ghumman has assured him that strict action would be taken against the officials who would keep pending the pension cases. Mr Qureshi directed the Jhang district accounts officer to ensure payment of dues to retired schoolteacher Abdul Hameed.

The teacher had complained that the Jhang district education officer was not sending his case to the accounts officer concerned. Retired superintending engineer Asghar Mahmood said the irrigation department secretary had not issued notification two years after his retirement.

Mr Mahmood said he was not paid salary five years before his retirement. The AG directed district accounts director-general Yawar Abbas to settle the case. He directed the Sheikhupura district accounts officer to ensure payment of all dues to the heirs of Ismatun Nisa who died two years ago while in service.

Former principal of Gujranwala's Government College of Commerce Mubeen Khan, retired PTC teacher Nusrat Parveen of Jaranwala, irrigation department's retired superintending engineer Asghar Mahmood of Lahore, buildings department's deputy director Zahoor Husain, schoolteacher Rafiq Ahmad of Ferozwala tehsil and retired SST Javed Anwar of Samundari tehsil requested the AG to direct the officials concerned to update their GP Fund accounts.

Mr Qureshi ordered immediate payment of the medical bills of AG office former employee Siraj Din who had been suffering from hepatitis. He also asked the deputy accountant-general (pay rolls) to redress the grievances of Prof Ziaul Mustafa of the Government College, Township, and Saifullah of buildings department's Rajanpur sub-division.