Official funds to the tune of millions of rupees were spent on PM’s personal property related advertisements
KARACHI: The citizens of Pakistan have the right to know why the government did not have adequate medical services to save the lives of 30 persons who died after eating poisonous sweets in Layyah. On the contrary, official funds to the tune of millions of rupees were spent on the prime minister’s personal property related advertisements (newspaper ads of April 28, 2016). This amount could have been better utilised to build medical facilities in Layyah and other towns across Pakistan.
In order to understand these mindless and illegal expenses, the following information and records were sought under the FOI Ordinance 2002 and Article 19A of the Constitution, from the federal information secretary on April 29, 2016: 1) a list of all newspapers in which the government placed half-page advertisements on April 28, relating to the prime minister or his family’s real or alleged assets disclosed by the Panama Papers; 2) the amount paid to each newspaper for the half-page advertisement of April 28; 3) as property related personal clarifications cannot be advertised by using taxpayers’ money, please indicate the specific head from which this amount was allocated and who approved this expense; 4) while anyone can spend personal money for advertising one’s own personal matters, in your opinion, is it legal or ethical for the government to use government funds (taxpayers’ money) to publish private advertisements; and 5) if the act of publishing private ads with the taxpayers’ money is either illegal or unethical, please mention the disciplinary action and the fiscal penalties that would be imposed upon the individual who approved these ads.
The Pakistani public awaits answers to these questions.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2016.
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