Free laptop scheme: Punjab government told to submit a reply by next week

Petitioner alleges procurement rules were violated.

LAHORE:

The Punjab government was issued a notice on a petition challenging the procurement and distribution of laptops.

The petition has been filed by Mubashar Lucman, a journalist, through his counsel Barrister Syed Ali Zafar.

Barrister Zafar said that the Punjab government had used Rs4 billion from the taxpayers’ money and should justify how the funds had been used. He alleged that the government had not formulated a proper policy before introducing the scheme. The petitioner’s counsel objected to the government’s failure to form a technical committee to evaluate specifications and other technical details relating to the laptops. He described it as being in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance and Rules.

Barrister Zafar presented a report published by an NGO and several news reports as evidence that the laptops had been purchased without “properly issuing tenders”.

He described the price laptops had been purchased at as “exorbitant” and alleged that the laptops procured did not match the technical specifications. The counsel said that in many cases laptops had been given to students who did not meet the criteria.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial then directed a law officer to submit a reply to the allegations levelled in the petition, directing the registrar’s office to fix a date sometime next week.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2012.