An inquiry committee constituted by the Board of Governors (BoGs) of Ayub Medical Teaching Institute (AMTI) has uncovered widespread financial mismanagement and irregularities to the tune of Rs1.355 billion at Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH), recommending the termination of five senior officials including a former hospital director from their service and recovering Rs 208.8 million from responsible officials.
The inquiry, initiated in response to allegations of systemic fraud and misuse of authority, also unearthed severe violations of procurement laws, collusion among officials, and substantial losses to the public exchequer.
It also uncovered procurement violations, including fake bids and forged documents, misuse of authority by senior officials, overpayments for surgical items and medicines during the interim government period, and misuse of authority during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
When contacted, BoG Secretary Professor Hamid Khan confirmed that long-awaited inquiry findings have been received, which will be discussed and followed in the next BoG meeting for further process and implementation.
The committee headed by Prof Dr Haq Nawaz comprises pharmacist Sona Khan, senior lawyer and former BoG member Asad Khan Jadoon Advocate and financial expert Umer Abbasi finalised the report after a meticulous investigation, categorised involved officials into three groups based on their roles and recommended stringent administrative and legal actions, including terminations, recoveries, and criminal probes.
The probe report urges the BoG to act swiftly on recommendations, recover losses, and initiate criminal probes to restore public trust. It warns that failure to address these systemic issues could lead to recurring institutional decay.
The inquiry paints a grim picture of institutional malpractice at ATH, demanding accountability for those implicated and systemic reforms to prevent future abuses. The BoG faces mounting pressure to implement the committee's roadmap for transparency and discipline.
Key findings of the inquiry include procurement violations, inflated pricing, misuse of authority, unjustified reappropriation and financial mismanagement. They pointed out that PPRA Rules 2014 were breached by giving favours to companies on forged documents without having NTN and bank statements while manipulating technical evaluations and awarding contracts to ineligible firms.
Similarly, the inquiry report stated that pharmacy supplies and IT equipment were purchased at rates exceeding market prices due to the absence of mandatory market surveys.
It further stated that Rs930m worth of purchases were illegally approved during a government-imposed ban, bypassing BoG authorisation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ