Pakistan

Shady practices: NAB to file references for illegal contracts, corruption

The reference said highly exorbitant rates worth Rs517,466,475 were charged, causing loss to the national exchequer

News Desk February 24, 2015

NAB chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhry chairing the EBM of the anti-graft watchdog. PHOTO: APP

ISLAMABAD:

The Executive Board of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday decided to file references against former officials of Workers Welfare Board (WWB) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Dera Ismail Khan for corruption and irregularities.

The first reference approved by the NAB board, which met NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry in the chair, was against former secretary WWB K-P Tariq Awan, former project manager Abdul Waheed and contractors including Muhammad Asghar Awan, Arslan Qureshi, Manzoor Ahmad Ghuri, and Naeem Rabani in illegal award of nine contracts for illegal procurement of equipment, including generators, vacuum cleaners, and fiber glass rooms, through fake and non-registered firms. The reference said highly exorbitant rates worth Rs517,466,475 were charged, causing loss to the national exchequer on account of short and substandard supply of equipment for Workers Welfare Board, K-P.

The second reference approved was against former BISE Dera Ismail Khan chairman Prof Dr Abdur Rahim Khan, former controller BISE Muhammad Atlas Khan, former acting controller Amanullah Khan and former assistant controller Wajeehuddin Ahmad.

In this case, the accused in gross violation of rules and regulations in connivance with each other received applications from students after the due date with normal fees and in some cases even without any fee.

The answer sheets were illegally rechecked, fraudulently remarked, award lists were changed/replaced and tampered by using fluid and overwriting in the result sheets of both SSC and HSSC annual/re-totaling results by misusing their authority and thus extending illegal benefit to the non-deserving students.

“NAB is determined for eradication of corruption and is making all-out efforts that all the public and private institutions serve the people on merit, without temptation of bribe or greed,” Qamar Zaman Chaudhry said at the end of the session.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2015.