Unlawful act: Govt uses worker funds for ‘budget financing’

Fund is supposed to provide shelter and relief to workers.

ISLAMABAD:

The custodians of workers’ hard-earned money have been found to be misusing Rs89 billion for financing budget deficit and political advertisement in violation of the law that only permits use of the funds for providing shelter and relief to the workers.

In a presentation to the Public Accounts Committee on Monday, Secretary Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) Ejaz Jaffer revealed that out of the cumulative Rs126.8 billion of WWF – a government department – the government is withholding Rs87.5 billion and using it for budget financing. The money being used for budget financing comprises 70 per cent of the total funds.

“The government should allow these funds to be used for the benefit of the employees,” said Jaffer. According to the 1971 Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance, every employee gives Rs70 from his salary and the employer contributes Rs350 for the worker’s benefit. Under the law, the Fund can only be used for construction of housing units for employees, providing quality education to the employees’ children and giving grants at the time of death and marriages of the employees’ children.

Use of funds for promoting political agenda in newspapers

An official of the Audit Department further disclosed that the management of WWF has been using the funds for advertisements in newspapers to promote agenda of the ruling political party. He said that the Audit Department has objected to spending the workers’ money for political motives in the Audit Report 2010-11, a move that will be discussed soon in the PAC meeting.

The Public Accounts Committee also raised objections to WWF investment in non-government securities. It asked the management to seek legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and Justice on what it called unlawful investments of millions of rupees.

In violation of rules, the management of WWF has also donated Rs1 billion to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund. PAC sought a utilisation report of the Rs1 billion contributed to the relief fund within a week.

The WWF secretary was silent when PAC’s acting chairperson Yasmeen Rehman raised a question - “has the management constructed housing units in the flood-hit areas for the poor labourers?”

The PM Secretariat is already facing criticism for non-utilisation of the Flood Relief Fund. So far, Rs6.9 billion has been contributed to the relief fund but the money largely remains unutilised.

The Workers Welfare Fund will have to be devolved to the provinces following the 18th Amendment. The WWF secretary said that Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are not ready to come under the devolution process as their share will be affected. The major contribution to WWF comes from Sindh, particularly Karachi as it houses head offices of most of the companies. After devolution, provinces will have to finance the projects currently being executed out of the consolidated fund.

Currently, five schemes with an estimated cost of Rs937 million are going on in Balochistan while in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa two projects with an estimated cost of Rs103 million are under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2011.