Irrigation Department: Funds being used to congratulate each other

PAC suggests strict action against officials involved

LAHORE: Public Accounts Committee (number one) of the Punjab Assembly has called for strict action against Irrigation Department officials involved in utilising development budget for advertisements.

The committee met on Wednesday at the PA and expressed serious reservations over development budgets being used for congratulatory advertisements. The meeting was chaired by deputy opposition leader Sibtain Khan and was attended by MPAs Waris Kallu, Saira Iftikhar, Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar, Mian Manazir Ranjha and Waheed Asghar Dogar.

Irrigation Department officials were asked to brief the lawmakers about utilisation of funds at a meeting on Wednesday. The committee found out that development funds worth thousands of rupees had been used by various department officials to express felicitations in media on several occasions. The committee found out about this after they analysed the department’s audit reports. Sibtain Khan expressed reservations over why the department had spent money on the ads.

The audit reports revealed that funds had been used for felicitation advertisements on Eid and Independence Day among other public holidays. Khan said this was sheer corruption.

He said strict action should be taken against the officials involved in the practice. Dr Waseem Akhtar and Mian Manazir Ranjha criticised department officials and said legal proceedings could be initiated against the culprits. They said it was unacceptable that public funds, allocated for development projects, were being spent on advertisements.

The committee also directed Irrigation Secretary Said Anjum to submit a report in one month regarding the department’s failure in securing additional performance security for development projects from contractors.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2015.