Accountability: Ghazi Khan medical college officials summoned

College principal to produce record in meeting with CM’s Monitoring Team.

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

The Chief Minister’s Monitoring Team has summoned the Ghazi Khan Medical College and Teaching Hospital principal along with the relevant record to Lahore for May 18 over alleged embezzlement in the construction of the hospital and purchase of equipment.

The health secretary, the district accounts officer, the teaching hospital medical superintendent, a former principal and a former finance director have also been directed to appear before the team on the day.

Requesting anonymity, a Health Department official said the directions were issued after a third-party audit confirmed findings of a departmental inquiry.

“In 2013, the government had issued Rs470 million for the up-grade of the college and teaching hospital. After reports of embezzlement surfaced, the principal ordered an internal inquiry. The committee, headed by the then vice principal Dr Shah Zaman, found a Rs190 million embezzlement in the purchase of equipment and machinery for the medical college and the teaching hospital.

The committee pointed to glaring contradictions in the purchase invoices. During the review of the purchase record, the committee found that there were no refrigerators for storing bodies even though funds had been issued for those. Many articles were found to have been cheaper than the prices quoted in the invoices. Some of the laboratory equipment was found to be unopened and unoperational. The warranty period for most such equipment had expired,” the official said.

Principal Shamim Ahsan said that the allegations pertained to the former principal’s tenure. “I was appointed to the post one year ago. We are gathering the relevant record and will present it to the monitoring team on Monday,” he said.

He said the equipment reported unoperational in the audit report had been installed and made functional.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2015.