ITP told to get ‘illegal rules’ approved or forego funds

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) to get their ‘illegal methods’ for fund generation approved from the Finance Division.

About Rs32 million had been generated by ITP using methods that had not been approved and termed by the Auditor general as ‘outside the law’.

The PAC has warned that in case of failure to act within the deadline, which is the end of this month, ITP would have to surrender the amount to the public exchequer.

ITP created new categories/heads for generation of funds within the organisation, without seeking approval from the finance ministry. These included urgent license fee for the general public and swimming pool fee for their personnel.

In the Auditor General’s report on Ministry of Interior for 2008-09, it was revealed that the different heads under which this amount were illegal. The Auditor General observed that the ITP management was utilising these funds to meet departmental expenses, over and above the amount allocated by government in its budget for the organisation.

It was further highlighted that the expenditure was being approved by the officers who were not delegated any financial powers. The generated amount was kept in commercial bank accounts, also opened without the approval of Finance Division. Similarly, the received amount was not reflected in the budget of the ICT, the report added.

Admitting to the points raised in the AG’s report, the ITP representative present in the PAC maintained that the said amount was generated because the government did not provide ITP with sufficient funds.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Senior Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), Zubair Hashmi, who was the SSP Traffic in 2008-09, said that the funds were generated solely by the ITP without the involvement of government resources. “The government made huge announcements while instituting the model Traffic Police, but refused to provide funds when the need arose,” he said.

“We started projects like digital driving license and police driving school which required funds. One-Window Operations were initiated for the convenience of the public. We got medical insurance for all our staff and their families in a bid to keep their morale high and the ITP corruption free. For all this we needed funds which the government was not willing to provide,” he added.

Therefore, the SSP said that ITP initiated certain programs and charged a minimal fee which was not heavy on the pockets of the common man. “You can get the driving license, with a validity of five years, from Islamabad for Rs600 while you get the same for Rs1600 from Rawalpindi,” he said.

“Audit was regularly carried out on this amount. We had a debate with the auditors who also accepted that the funds were not misused,” said Hashmi.

“We have already made and sent the rules to the Finance Ministry for approval, hopefully, we will get the approval well before the deadline,” he added. Islamabad Traffice Police operates many vehicles including three mobile workshop units on its own expenses. The management maintained that a continuous supply of funds was necessary for which these fee heads had been created.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2010.