ISLAMABAD Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman on Thursday told the National Assembly that the government had ordered an inquiry into the alleged squandering of money from national exchequer on advertisements to print and electronic media about Khushal Pakistan Programme by the previous regime for its publicity. 

Replying to two separate questions of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) MNA Belum Hasnain, the minister informed the house that the previous Shaukat Aziz regime had spent over Rs344 million on the advertisements for projection of Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP) in print and electronic media during the last three years.

According to Rehman, the government released Rs240 million for the advertisements on print media alone and an amount of Rs80 million was yet to be settled with advertising agencies. Similarly, she disclosed that Rs104.2 million were disbursed among three advertisement agencies for the broadcast of advertisements on 26 different TV channels.

Without naming, Rehman alleged that some officials of the Prime Minister's Secretariat and Ministry of Finance were involved in the scam. She assured the members that the inquiry report would be presented in the house and those who squandered public money would be exposed. 'We are looking into the involvement of influential individuals in the programme. In case any names come up, we would certainly pursue them. This is a matter that deserves all seriousness,' she said.

'The opposition and civil society had repeatedly expressed concerns over reports of corruption in the KPP as there were glaring gaps in the advertisement budget of the projects. The figures provided to us regarding release of funds failed to match the expenditure made. Since the programme had a development-oriented nature, it is very important that all details regarding funds disbursements and spending be brought to forth,' she said. The minister said her ministry was committed to bringing to light the irregularities in the advertisement distribution of the Khushal Pakistan Programme, initiated by the last regime.

In response to a question, Rehman said that there had been no ban on Indian news channels in Pakistan. However, she said, the Indian channels were required to apply to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for grant of landing rights and so far no one had approached Pemra for this purpose. About the availability of Indian entertainment channels, she said the cable operators were screening Indian movies and other channels on the demand of the consumers.