Stay orders for ‘corrupt’ officers irks PAC

Committee summons AGP for briefing on all cases being heard by courts

ISLAMABAD:

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament Chairman Noor Alam on Tuesday criticised the issuance of stay orders by courts on action against corrupt officers.

During a PAC huddle, Alam maintained that the committee worked for the country.

“What is the job of the courts? Issue stay orders to corrupt people?” he questioned.

The committee then summoned the attorney general for Pakistan at its next meeting for a briefing on the cases being heard by the courts.

While reviewing the audit report of the food security ministry, the body expressed its displeasure over lack of holding a departmental accounts committee meeting.

The PAC sought the details of farm research conducted during the last 10 years and the number of PhD researchers at the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC)

Alam observed that the government paid an amount of around 500 million annually to PARC researchers and employees.

Also read: PAC orders audit of Supreme Court accounts

PAC member Hussain Tariq noted that the average yield of wheat was 20 maunds per acre,10 years ago and it was still the same today.

Later, the PAC directed the ministry to provide it with the details of the PARC PhD researchers’ salaries and benefits.

The PARC chairman in his briefing to the PAC pointed out that the cultivation of strawberries in the country was the result of his organisation’s research.

However, the committee emphasised the importance of focusing on important crops including wheat instead of strawberries.

The PAC members raised the question as to how many varieties of wheat and rice had been introduced in the country in the last 10 years.

The chairman of the committee observed that there were many PhD holders in the country but no research in the agricultural sector.

Food Security Secretary Zafar Hassan told the committee that his ministry was spending 0.12% of the GDP on agricultural research -- a figure that was less than all other countries in the region.

He further informed the committee that the production of wheat per acre in the country was 60 to 80 maunds.

However, the members of the committee maintained that the average production of wheat per acre in the country was 27 maunds.

The PAC reviewed the audit report of the National Heritage and Culture Division.

It sought the details of the investments from the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).

The audit authorities told the PAC that the administration of Napa did not care about financial rules and regulations.

In the meeting, irregularities worth millions of rupees were revealed in the academy.

The PAC was informed that the Napa board had kept a sum of Rs300 million in two separate private banks against the rules.

According to the audit report, more than Rs10 million could not be kept in a single bank according to the rules, which prompted the PAC to seek investment details from Napa.