PAC seeks briefing from NAB chairman

Following the release of Transparency International (TI) report on corruption index which depicted that corruption level in Pakistan has jumped up over the past year, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has decided to summon chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to brief the panel on the reasons behind increase in corruption in the country.

The PAC meeting was held here Thursday under the chairmanship of Rana Tanveer Hussain to review and discuss audit paras of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) for 2012-13. The panel while lauding the performance of PAEC settled all the audit objections against the commission. The committee members said that the commission has done an outstanding job over the years.

Committee Member Khawaja Asif said that Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) is even monitoring the smallest irregularities in public sector departments while some elements are dragging every other politician accusing him/her of corruption charges on television screens. He said that Karachi Nuclear plant is a hallmark for Pakistan which was completed by PAEC within limited resources.

He said those kept on hurling multibillion rupees corruption charges against politicians on TV screens must come forward and present the proof of corruption, adding that Transparency International report on corruption index in 2019 as compared with 2018 depicts altogether different picture.

Committee Member Shahida Akhtar Ali said that AGP from 2013-18 has recovered Rs 352 billion, which is a big amount as compared with the recoveries of NAB of Rs 153 billion as claimed by chairman NAB. She said that the panel must summon chairman NAB to brief the panel from whom he has made these recoveries. She said that besides Rs 352 billion recoveries, the AGP has also recovered Rs 53 billion during the past 18 months.

The chairman PAC while giving the reference of TI report said, "Our country was ranked 120th out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led federal government's ministers are still busy hurling allegations against the opposition."

According to CPI report, the country has scored 33/100 on the CPI in 2018 and 32/100 in 2017.

Rana Tanveer said that prevailing situation demands summoning chairman NAB to brief the PAC members on the measures taken by the bureau to check the corruption and give the reasons why corruption level progressed upward during the past one year. He directed the secretary PAC to issue a letter to the chairman NAB to attend the next meeting of the panel and brief the committee on NAB's anti-corruption activities over the years.

The auditor general briefing on the special audit of Kartarpur Corridor informed the panel that the department has written a letter to the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) to provide the record of the works completed in Kartarpur but the FWO has not provided the record as yet.

The AGP said that in response to the letter, the FWO has stated that Kartarpur Corridor was not an approved project from relevant departments and the FWO has completed the project through its own resources and now it has been sent to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for post facto approval.

The PAC besides summoning the chairman NAB also decided to summon director general FWO to brief the panel on the construction of Kartarpur Corridor.