Benazir Income Support Programme: PAC body expresses anger over lapse of Rs 14 billion

The subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee on Friday expressed serious anger over the laps of Rs 14 billion in Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has directed the BISP to conduct an inquiry into the matter and present all the record before the panel within a month. The subcommittee meeting of the PAC held here under the chairmanship of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to discuss and review audit pars of BISP of 2011-12, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, Ministry of privatization and Ministry of Law and Justice.
Audit officials told the panel that in 2011 BISP couldn't utilized allocated funds and Rs 14 billion were lapsed. The committee members observed that it was just incompetence of the top officials of the entity; otherwise not utilization of such a huge amount meant to reduce poverty is out of question. Convener committee stressed the need for improving the financial discipline in public sector entities asked the BISP and other public sector organizations budgetary must be made as per their capacity.
The panel while snubbing the officials of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority over not conducting Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting since 2010 directed the officials to bring all the relevant record in next panel meeting by the end on August. He said that in case the officials failed to comply with the directives of the PAC, stern action as per law will be taken against the responsible officials.
Member Committee Senator Mushahid Hussian Syed said that surprisingly NAB was swiftly taking action against the politicians especially opposition but was keeping mum over other cases. While discussing the audit paras of Employment Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) the panel asked the officials about the present position of multi-billion land scam of EOBI. The Audit officials revealed that housing societies of Defence Housing Authority, Eden Housing Society, the housing society of PTI leader Aleem Khan and other housing societies have sold their plots in exorbitant prices to the EOBI in one go payment resultantly causing a loss of billions to national exchequer.
It was also revealed in the PAC that the current values of 15 properties out of 18 is also less than current value and even Rs 22 billion of the payment was made to Defence Housing Authority while the 889 plots was purchased in DHA pahse-1 in sector-F and sector-2 and the development work on these plot yet not started. The panel was informed that the issue of purchase of the 500 plots in DHA by the EOBI in 2005 was also taken up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a suo moto of 18 properties in 2013.