Audit Report of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Audit Year 2007-08 has unearthed irregularities to the tune of Rs 82.409 million in heads of non-recovery, overpayment, unverified expenditure and account of store in the department of Health.
The report has been presented in the provincial assembly. A meeting of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has already been convened in the first week of next month to hold deliberation on the report.
The report said that irregularities provide reasonable evidence that the finance operation of the department was exposed to high risk situation. The department had failed in recovery of an amount of Rs 24.026 million in head of room rent, cost of medicines not taken on stock, impressed money, 5 percent maintenance charges and sale of proceed of contraceptives.
The department has incurred a loss of Rs 18.396 million due to distribution of share in hospital receipts, non-deposit of OPD/Casualty fee, payment of higher rate, shortage in store, theft of biometry machine, tampering in indent and non-return expired medicines.
Similarly, another handsome amount of Rs 27.536 million was overpaid in heads of housing subsidy and higher rate, allowing of unauthorised advance increments to charge nurses and payment of non-practising teaching and conveyance allowance during leave.
Another amount of Rs 7.555 million was unverified expenditure due to non-production of record by Chief Executive Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Peshawar. Elaborating the case, the report says that during the year 2004-05, in the office of the Chief Executive, KTH vouchers of Rs 7.555 million, contract documents, donation account, counterfoil of receipts books, bank deposit slips and receipts books of private rooms were not provided to audit for authentication of expenditure.
The matter was first pointed out in February 2006, but no reply was given while during the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting held in January 2008 department replied that record was available and the donation case was under consideration of the Accountability Court. DAC directed to conduct inquiry of missing vouchers and provide proceedings of the court to audit, But, neither the departmental inquiry conducted nor were proceedings of the court provided till finalisation of the report.
In case of non-accountal of medicine valuing Rs 4.896 million occurred during the years 2004-05, in the office of the Medical Superintendent Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), medicines costing Rs 4.896 million were issued from main store to various wards, but, were not taken on the sub-stock registers of the wards.
It was pointed in November 2005 and June 2006 and Medical Superintendent Ayub Teaching Hospital replied that the matter would be investigated, but he furnished no reply. In the DAC meeting held in March 2006 and January 2008, Medical Superintendent Ayub Teaching Hospital replied that due to oversight incorrect totalling were made, which had now been corrected while Medical Superintendent HMC replied that none of the institutes could provide such detailed information. DAC directed conducting of inquiry to fix responsibility and recover the amount. However, no inquiry report or progress of recovery was intimated till finalisation of the audit report.
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