Nisar asks DG Radio to leave the room

PAC chairman tells Solangi he was a stranger to the proceedings of the committee.

ISLAMABAD: The director general of Radio Pakistan, Murtaza Solangi, was publicly humiliated by the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in what observers describe as an unfortunate incident on Thursday. Solangi, who has been associated earlier with the Voice of America and currently doing work with Radio Pakistan was told by Nisar that he was a stranger to the proceedings of the committee.

Papers from the competent authority could not be submitted to the committee to show that Solangi was indeed the DG of Radio Pakistan.

This angered the PAC chief who asked Solangi to leave the room. Information secretary Sohail Mansoor was also grilled by the committee.  The PAC was informed that during 2007-2008, the information ministry had distributed over half a billion rupees through a secret fund. But the Information Secretary Sohail Mansoor was unable to details of how the money was distributed. Mansoor argued that the secret fund was being spent for decades and every government had used such funds.

On the question of Solangi, the information secretary said he had received orders from the competent authority about the appointment of the DG of Radio Pakistan but he could not produce written orders. This angered Nisar who told DG Radio “you are a stranger here, please leave the room”. He also directed federal secretaries to stop releasing salaries and other perks of any such official who is continuing on verbal orders in their respective departments.

One PAC member told this correspondent that even if Solangi was not wanted in the meeting, he should have been asked to stay in the room but could not sit with the information secretary to reply to the audit objections. Meanwhile, this was second time in a week time that civil servants were subjected to humiliation when PAC members grilled communication secretary and NHA chairman during the course of the discussion on audit.  An angry Nisar even threatened  NHA chairman and communication secretary if they dared to say a single word in their defence when they were trying to give their side of a story with regard to the collapse of the Shershah bridge in Karachi. Both the officers were not allowed to complete their arguments as after every sentence they were rudely snubbed and told to shut up or face contempt.

Sources said PAC chairman Nisar Ali Khan had started insulting government officers publicly after Yasmin Rehman had brought it to  his notice that the communication secretary was not courteous enough during one of the sub committee meetings she was chairing.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.