A sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare would meet in the Committee Room No 1 of the Parliament House here on Saturday to discuss the audit report on the Tawana Pakistan Programme. The sub-committee to be chaired by Senator Muhammad Enver Baig would examine in detail the audit report of the Tawana Pakistan Programme.
The sub-committee in its last meeting held on July 17 had noted financial irregularities in the project and summoned former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to appear before it on August 23. The sub-committee had decided that Shaukat Aziz, who was also finance minister, must appear and explain the financial irregularities pinpointed in the report.
The sub-committee also summoned two former social welfare and special education ministers, Dr Attiya Inayatullah and Zobaida Jalal, former social welfare secretary Naeem Khan, former chairman planning commission Akram Sheikh, former managing director Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal Brigadier Muhammad Sarfraz (Retd), head of Tawana Pakistan project Irfan Ullah Khan, representatives of National Bank of Pakistan, PIMS Branch, Vita Company and Maza Company over misuse of funds and violation of rules.
Official of the ministry said that Tawana Pakistan project was launched by the Social Welfare and Special Education Ministry in 2002 to provide cooked meal daily to 530,000 girl students of 5300 primary schools at a cost of Rs 36 million for 54 month. He said the objective was to improve education and health of rural girls in the far-flung areas of the country.
The Social Welfare Ministry had been implementing the project through Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, the Aga Khan Foundation and 11 NGOs in close collaboration with the district governments, he said. The project was launched in 2002 without approval of its PC-I by Ecnec, which raised various questions about its execution, he said.
He said the monitoring and evaluation of the project was not done which was necessary after stipulated time period to improve the fund disbursement mechanism and verification of beneficiaries. However, during a surprise visit, an official team found expired medicines and substandard food being given to the students. The Ecnec suspended the project in 2005 and directed that its PC-I be prepared, he said.
However, the ministry on the directives of then social welfare minister re-launched the project in March 2007 without approval and the frozen amount of Rs 571 million of the programme was also released from Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal to the ministry, he added. He said the project was once again suspended in November 2007 by former secretary Rasool Buksh Baloch because of the alleged misuse of funds.
The ministry spent over Rs 600 million out of which more than Rs 420 million were used on administrative expenses but the proper record about it was not available with the ministry. Official said that according to audit report mineral water worth Rs 3.6 million was consumed during a period of nine months in 2007 by the then minister for social welfare.
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