Sindh bureaucrats snub PAC as accountability remains a distant dream

Media barred from covering PAC session allegedly due to presence of PPP MPA Faryal Talpur


Hafeez Tunio July 05, 2019
PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) — the provincial watchdog, whose mandate is to scrutinise and audit the accounts of government departments — seems rather “helpless” as bureaucrats don’t even bother showing up for its hearings.

On Thursday, the PAC held its 10th meeting at the committee room of the Sindh Assembly, but the chairperson Ghulam Qadir Chandio had no option but to postpone the meeting as the officials of the Works and Services Department failed to show up.

As the meeting started, staffers of the Office of Auditor-General of Pakistan presented some audit paras from the fiscal year 2009-10 and said, “There are millions of rupees worth of anomalies in the accounts of the Works and Services Department.”

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When PAC chairman inquired about the Works and Services secretary and other officers, no senior official from the department was there to justify the irregularities and audit objections. This irked the PAC chairman, who postponed the meeting.

According to the audit officials, there were 28 paras of the department involving Rs1,276 million worth of irregularities. “As per the rules, we send these paras to the relevant department and the latter are supposed to submit their justifications, but all in vain,” said a senior auditor, who was present in the meeting.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, PAC Chairman Chandio, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said that he had already registered a complaint with the chief secretary against the attitude of bureaucrats who don’t take the meetings seriously. “Today, the secretary of Works and Services Department had to appear in court, which is why he could not attend the meeting. But I can’t tolerate lame excuses and will take up this issue with higher authorities against the bureaucrats’ lethargic attitude,” he said.

Since the PPP has come into power in 2008, the PAC chairmanship has been given to the ruling party in Sindh, violating the charter of democracy agreement inked between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in London in 2006.

The agreement said that the opposition leader in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies would be appointed as the PAC chairperson. Today, the agreement is only being implemented in the National Assembly.

After the last general election, opposition parties in Sindh Assembly protested for several months, demanding that the PAC chairman’s post be given to opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The provincial government, however, refused to budge and appointed its own party’s MPA to the post.

Faryal Talpur

PPP MPA Faryal Talpur, who is currently under investigation in the fake accounts case and is in the National Accountability Bureau’s custody, has also been made a member of the provincial watchdog. Her production order has been issued to attend the ongoing assembly session and PAC meetings.

During the meeting on Thursday, the media’s focus revolved around her. As Faryal reached the committee room, she inquired about the non-functional air-conditioner and fan. She ordered the assembly staff to fix the AC and fan without any delay. The fan and AC, which had been lying non-functional, for the last several days, were fixed soon after.

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Media banned

For the first time, the media is barred from attending the PAC’s meetings. Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that the reason for the ban is the presence of PPP MPA Faryal Talpur.

“The media is not allowed inside the meeting,” a security official deputed at the committee room told media personnel. “After the meeting, the chairman and members will brief about the meeting outside,” he added.

Journalists covering the PAC for the last several years expressed concern and said that this had never happened in any government. The media is always allowed inside the meeting to cover the discussion on paras. An official, requesting not to be named, said that the ban will be relaxed in the absence of Talpur.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2019.

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