Rs19b misappropriated in BISP, PAC told

A total of 143,000 people had benefitted from the scam

ISLAMABAD:

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday formed a joint investigation team to probe the irregularities worth Rs19 billion in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in 2020 with a direction to submit the report within next 15 days.

The meeting chaired by PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan reviewed the audit report of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division for the financial year 2019-20.

It directed the BISP and Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division to provide a “proper record” to the probing team comprising the Auditor General of Pakistan, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The chairman apprised the committee that around 143,000 people had benefitted from the scam, adding that the BISP was introduced to support poor women.

Despite huge anomalies, the former management of BISP had not conducted any inquiry against the perpetrators of the crime, the body was told.

Khan further directed that the “BISP representatives should provide a complete record and information for the inspection of audit and that the AGP, FIA and NAB should register an FIR against the incumbent BISP and Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division high-ups if they fail to give the relevant details and data to them”.

Senator Musahid Hussain, who had raised the irregularities issue before the PAC suggested that the embezzled amount should be utilised for the welfare of widows and orphan girls.

He called upon the PAC members to highlight the irregularities in projects and maintained that the BISP high-ups had looted the national exchequer.

Senator Mohsin Aziz maintained that BISP had not used the funds to alleviate the sufferings of deserving families and instead favoured their blue-eyed.

MNA Nuzhat Pathan asked BISP secretaries and Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division to specify rules according to which they had transferred the cash to the deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners for flood-hit people in Sindh.

The committee expressed disappointment over the replies given by the BISP officials and urged the authorities concerned to carry out investigations against the irregularities in the programme and register an FIR against the perpetrators.

The PAC meeting was attended by Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, MNA Nuzhat Pathan, MNA Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, MNA Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, MNA Syed Hussain Tariq, MNA Nawab Sher, MNA Naveed Dero, MNA Shahida Ali Akbar, MNA Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Senator Mohsin Aziz (via video link).

With input from APP