ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) could not not recover irregular payments made to 195,871 government employees in 10 years-2010-2020- of over Rs23.13 billion, while only Rs 0.96 million or less than one million were recovered of this amount, reveals the latest report of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on BISP accounts.
The report of audit year 2020-21 unearths massive irregularities in BISP's accounts in the financial year 2019-20. The AGP report observed that during scrutiny of cash transfers for FY 2019-20 a total number of 55,383 government employees/pensioners from grade 1 to grade 20 and their spouses were being paid cash transfers in an irregular manner. A total of Rs 6.8 billion was disbursed by BISP among such government employees/pensioners and their spouses up to June 2019, which was required to be recovered.
The audit report further noted that another 140,488 government employees (including 215 BISP employees) were blocked by the federal cabinet in February 2020. A sum of Rs 16.33 billion was received by such government employees as unconditional cash transfer during the period 2010-20. The recovery status from these employees is not found in the record provided to AGP.
According to AGP, BISP's reply to the audit suggested that only Rs 0.966 million had been recovered from BISP employees and proceedings against remaining 193 employees were under process.
BISP informed AGP that Rs 0.824 million were fully recovered from "last paid salaries" of 10 BISP employees and Rs 0.142 million recovered through payroll system on monthly instalment basis from 22 BISP employees.
The audit further revealed that BISP did not recover a penalty of Rs 717.50 million imposed on survey firms due to defecting surveys. This amount included Rs 69.72 million imposed on RSPN and Rs 20.22 million imposed on Aurat Foundation for carrying out erroneous surveys for BISP.
Requesting anonymity, a senior BISP official informed Business Recorder that the management of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD), which heads BISP, has launched a probe in the light of AGP report.
"Most part of the irregular payments was made to government employees in the years when the incumbent government was not in power," the source said.
The official claimed that BISP management "fully cooperated" with AGP auditors and provided them all the information related to audit. "Nothing was kept hidden," the official stated. In January 2020, BISP dismissed four of its gazetted officers working in grade 17 for allegedly enrolling their spouses as the BISP beneficiaries to unlawfully receive financial assistance that is offered to the poor deserving families.
BISP claimed that the entire embezzled amount of Rs 440,196 was recovered from the four accused. In December 2019, BISP announced that it removed 820,165 undeserving beneficiaries from its list which included 2,543 officers from grade 17 to grade 21 and that the steps were being taken to initiate action against them and recover the amount they had received as unconditional cash grant.
In June this year, BISP Board accorded approval to the annual BISP budget of Rs 250 billion allocated by the federal government for this financial year 2021-22.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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