The meeting, presided over by chairman Jam Tamachi Unar, also directed universities to ban obtaining overdrafts from banks as they cause a financial burden due to the heavy interest charged.
The PAC referred to the irregularities in conveyance, medical allowances along with the issue of excessive payments to the Sindh governor, who is also the chancellor of the universities. The committee also decided that as universities work under different rules and procedures, the Sindh government, the finance department and public universities should work together to come up with uniform rules by merging the rules of the syndicates, the finance department and the Public Procurement Regularity Authority (PPRA).
The audit reports for 2006-07 and 2008-09 of four public universities including Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, Benazirabad (Nawabshah), Shah Latif University, Khairpur, Karachi University and Sindh University, Jamshoro were presented.
Unar told the media that universities would not be allowed to violate financial rules. He said the committee observed that tenders are not invited competitively, funds are transferred and used without proper authority and expenditures are not recorded.
Sindh audit director-general Nazeer Seehar said that 45 audit paras of the universities were discussed. Seventeen paras were settled and 28 were deferred to the universities with a warning that they must be justified by the next meeting.
Seehar said during the audit, discrepancies worth Rs34.54 million were discovered, Rs29.709 million of which have been recovered. He said vice-chancellors have been directed to conduct inquiries into the irregularities. “Sindh University acquired an overdraft from a bank and paid Rs10 million in interest. We have asked all universities to avoid that kind of activity and follow an ‘economy-adopt policy’ by reducing expenses,” he added.
He said that the Sindh chief minister and the governor had told the finance department to direct institutions to follow financial discipline.
During the audit report of Quaid-e-Awam university, 15 audit paras were discussed. The meeting observed that Rs18.074 million was spent on machinery and equipment without the invitation of open tenders. Seehar said there was no comparative statement or purchase order supplied at the time of the audit. However, vice-chancellor Nazir Hussain Phulpoto said that all relevant documents had been brought and he requested the committee to settle the audit.
MPA Ghulam Mujadid Isran said, “The date of the tender was tampered with. We have asked the vice-chancellor to initiate an inquiry against the official and have deferred the audit paras.”
The committee also ordered for the verification of vouchers the university produced for the purchase of various articles worth Rs0.189 million.
Seehar pointed out an audit para under which Rs3.24 million was spent but for which no supporting vouchers were available.
The auditors said that during 2007-08, contractors failed to complete work on time due to which the government sustained a loss of Rs1.144 million. The vice-chancellor said an inquiry report regarding this matter will be handed over to the PAC soon.
Sindh University’s audit report was also discussed. Seehar said that the finance director did not have the authority to transfer Rs139 million without the permission of the competent authority.
Finance director Mushtaque Memon said that he did have the authority to manage funds. The chairman responded that “there is a difference in managing and transferring funds.”
Seehar said the university had an overdraft on which they paid Rs10.21 million in interest. This issue was referred to the governor and the syndicate for its approval. Also, Rs14 million were spent without inviting open tenders. Seehar said that the tender was published on December 10 and 11 in newspapers and was opened December 16. “We fail to understand why seven days were fixed for the tender,” he said.
The finance director said the classes at the Badin campus had to be run so a short time period was fixed for the tender. However, the PAC deferred the audit para for another meeting. Audit paras dealing with Rs39.214 million in excess payments of various allowances and Rs19 million in unjustified payments for medical allowances were referred to the governor for his approval.
In the audit report of Karachi University, Rs3.61 million was paid as a conveyance allowance to employees. The finance director said that the allowance was paid as there was a three to four kilometre distance between the hostels and the campus. The PAC, however, deferred the audit para.
The audit director-general observed that Rs0.548 million worth of items were purchased by the university but were not accounted for in the stock register. The PAC expressed concern over the matter and deferred the audit para for the next meeting.
The vice-chancellor of Shah Latif University was directed to issue an explanation order to employees who were not willing to return the advance amount. Audit paras regarding Rs2.42 million in unjustified payments of medical allowances and Rs1.9 million in the irregular payment of various allowances was deferred with a warning that they be settled by the next meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2010.
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