Deputy AGPR says pre-audit could minimise chances of irregular expenditures. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID
Over 3,000 special accounts are maintained by various government agencies from where payments are made without ensuring prior checks and balances, increasing chances of misappropriation of public funds, a senior officer of the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) department said on Thursday.
Exemption from the pre-audit before making payments from 3,200 to 3,300 assignment accounts increased risks of irregular payments, said Syed Gulzar Hussain, the deputy accountant general of Pakistan revenue during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The pre-audit could minimise chances of irregular expenditures that in years ahead may lessen the workload of the PAC, he added.
PAC Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah asked Hussain to produce a list of each such account to substantiate his claim and promised to pass a judgment to plug loopholes.
In the pre-audit process AGPR exercises all checks including the status on whether or not the work has been approved by the competent authority, the tender was floated and the public procurement regulatory authority rules were observed, said Hussain after the PAC meeting.
The practice of opening assignment accounts started in the late 1980s to fast-track work on foreign-funded projects. Due to the Ministry of Finance’s inability to release payments in a timely fashion, the international lending agencies had pushed to open special purpose-driven accounts, according to the ministry’s former officials.
They said the procedures were further tightened three years back. Now, the assignment account can only be opened in the National Bank of Pakistan, where the balance cannot be retained. The remaining credit lapses on the last day of each financial year.
Ministry of Finance officials argued that the AGPR wanted the pre-audit powers to mint money, an offence the institution’s officials are often accused of committing. They said the accounts are opened with the consent of the AGPR. The Ministry of Finance was not keen to authorise the AGPR to perform pre-audit checks.
The PAC also sought a report from all government departments about the number of vehicles in their fleets, the officers entitled to use them and expenditures incurred on their maintenance. The PAC sought this report when the members highlighted the misuse of official cars by bureaucrats who are availing a monthly car allowance of Rs68,000 to Rs97,000 depending upon their pay scale.
The PPP government had approved a cash-for-car policy, known as the monetisation of car facility that instead of reducing the government’s liabilities has opened another door of misusing vehicles.
PAC members seemed to be in a catch-22 situation while discussing the audit objections for the period of 1998-99. They were unable to take decisions in cases where the accused had died or the record was not available.
In most of the cases, the record was either not available or was burnt due to an accidental fire. A case of fraudulent payments of Rs3.7 million by the then Managing Director of Pakistan State Oil, the late Amjad Hussain to Gilani Traders on account of a fake land lease deal was pending since 1995.
The successive PSO heads seemed to be trying to protect their predecessors and none took action against anyone except lodging a case in civil court. After the former MD died, the inquiry committee held him responsible for the loss.
The chairman of the PAC issued directions for the registration of an FIR against the owner of Gilani Traders and referred the matter to the National Accountability Bureau to recover money and find out other accomplices of the MD.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2014.
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