BISP irregularities

A conundrum as to whether the case should be reported and to whom

The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was instituted to provide relief to underserved communities across Pakistan – a programme that perhaps began with good intentions. Some 11 years after its establishment, however, it has been discovered that financial irregularities have existed for a significant chunk of that time period. Within a few years after its establishment, under the stewardship of Farzana Raja, a discrepancy of Rs4.8 billion was discovered for the year 2012-13 owed to the awarding of unlawful contracts based on unfair practices. In one case, a contract worth Rs2.74 billion was awarded without adherence to rules of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. The situation has left various entities and departments – including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), BISP, NAB, PAC Chairman Shehbaz Sharif, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf – in a conundrum as to whether the case should be reported further and to whom. The confusion over reporting as well as the long delay of six years point to shady deals within the corridors of power.

PAC Chairman Sharif was set to refer the case to the FIA but became convinced to retract his orders after mediation by a PTI official. The PTI official offered an alternative to the chairman in order to pacify – or so it seems – former PPP premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf who denied irregularities. Meanwhile, Sharif, who is currently under scrutiny himself by NAB, quickly jumped at the opportunity to complain about the speedy delivery of notice against him by NAB compared with the six-year delay with regard to irregularities uncovered in BISP operations. This is peculiar, indeed.

Ashraf’s foul cry that the auditor general of Pakistan is referring insignificant cases to the PAC is tenuous. A discrepancy, involving nearly Rs5 billion, is not small in nature. An offshoot of that, and considerably the larger issue, is the allegation of unfair policies being pursued at the time of awarding contracts to various companies. The latter has been a chronic ailment of our leaders: the inability to view corrupt practices as illicit.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2019.

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