PAC chief urges disciplinary action against DAG

Fraud detected in execution of the multi-billion-rupee drought mitigation programme.

ISLAMABAD: The head of the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday called for disciplinary action against the recently retired deputy auditor general, Mohammad Anwar, for massive fraud in execution of a multi-billion-rupee drought mitigation programme funded by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The committee earlier found Anwar guilty as charged in light of a report prepared by his own subordinates.  It also directed the planning division to take action under criminal offences against the culprits wherever criminal offence was committed and report back to the committee within two weeks about compliance with these actions.

This is the first time that a senior officer of the Auditor General of Pakistan has been found guilty of corruption and fraud in the execution of a project.

The AGP team was seen as putting up a case against their own auditor against whom they had established 31 audit objections in a special audit report. The special audit was ordered by the then AGP Younis Khan in 2006 after it was reported in the national media that 30 poor women had died in the desert of Cholistan because of drought and money meant for those underprivileged children was spent in  Islamabad on purchase of luxury cars even of 3000cc for the personal use of project managers and other top guns of the Planning Division. The then MPs like Ishaq Khan Khakwani, Tasneem Gardezi and Makhdoom Ahmed Alwam Anwar from southern Punjab had raised the issue in parliament and had demanded registration of 30 murder cases against those who had spent drought money on the purchase of cars.

Anwar also appeared before the committee to give his version of the story. But he failed to convince the committee members to undo the punishments and actions recommended in the audit report.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan blasted Mohammad Anwar and said whatever was reported in the media about corruption in the execution of drought mitigation programme had turned out to be true. Anwar tried to offer an interesting excuse that actually he had terminated an employee of his project, who had used a journalist to make his life “miserable” with such stories. Upon this, Nisar rebuked Anwar in the meeting and said he should not utter a single word about any terminated employee or a journalist as they did not bring these 31 audit objections against him.

Nisar reminded him these audit objections against him were framed by none other than his own audit team at the AGP office. Nisar advised Mohammad Anwar not to shift the blame on someone else’s shoulders and should only confine himself to explanations behind his acts of omission and commission which were documented by auditors.

MNA Bahadur Khan Sehar said this was not an ordinary “crime” committed by the deputy auditor general of Pakistan because of misuse of borrowed funds at Islamabad, 30 poor women had died in Cholistan desert  in drought  conditions. “How can an audit officer with no relevant experience and qualification to fight against the drought conditions and agriculture be made project director of a drought project for five years?”  Bahadur Khan lamented that even the AGP team had not raised objections against Anwar’s appointment as project director.

Planning Secretary Ashraf Hayat told the meeting that he would not offer any comment on the appointment of audit officer as project director of multi-billion-rupees drought programme as this was directly done by the establishment division.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2010.