DGIP cars being plied for personal use

ISLAMABAD: Officials of the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGIP), Ministry of Interior, have been misusing government vehicles for personal use.

The matter was first raised in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior four days ago. A complete list of all vehicles was presented, which showed that a total of 20 official vehicles were being used at the directorate office in Islamabad. During the meeting, committee members asserted that 13 of these were being misused by four senior officials.

While speaking to The Express Tribune on Sunday, a senior official of the directorate on condition of anonymity accused Director General Syed Wajid Ali and Director Irshad Ahmad Bhatti of using multiple official vehicles for the last three years, violating existing rules and regulations.

According to the rules, senior officials of the directorate (grade-17 and above) are entitled to only one vehicle. Most officials, however, have been using three or four vehicles each.

The senior official alleged that Ali was using five vehicles. His family and relatives were using these cars, he added. Bhatti was using four vehicles including a jeep.

Furthermore, Kabeer Khan, deputy director, was using two vehicles for personal use, while Muhammad Amin, a clerk at the directorate, was using one, thanks to the ‘reference’ of a senior official, according to the same directorate official.

Bhatti, however, denied the allegation and said the government vehicles were being used by employees only.

Syed Wajid Ali, the director-general, was unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts to contact him.

Meanwhile, Senator Talha Mahmood, chairman of the committee, ordered senior officials of the directorate to submit a detailed report about the misuse of official vehicles by June 11.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2010.