Secretary Pakistan Railways Parveen Agha is considered to be the favourite candidate for the vacant slot of Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP). The Finance Division on Saturday issued a notification regarding the removal of Mohammad Akhtar Buland Rana from the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan. According to section 168 of the Constitution, the President has the authority to appoint the most senior officer in the Office of the Auditor General to act as AGP, if the office of the auditor general is vacant.
Currently Parveen Agha is one of the most senior officer of the Audit and Accounts Group. Parveen Agha whose superannuation age is April 19, 2018, enjoys a good reputation in respect to following rules and regulations. She belongs to Punjab and reportedly is on good terms in government circles, sources added. Two other candidates are also reportedly under consideration for the post namely Manak Sher Idrees Tarar and Shabbir Ahmad - senior officials of the Audit and Accounts Group.
According to sources, the government will take a careful decision about the appointment of AGP keeping in view the importance of the slot. The AGP is a government organisation and the prime institution in the country for ensuring public accountability and fiscal transparency in governmental operations. The organisation is expected to bring about improvements in financial discipline and internal control environment in the executive departments for minimising the possibility of waste and fraud.
Akhtar Buland Rana, who was appointed to the post of auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) by the PPP government, had refused to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on grounds that Khursheed Shah had been a cabinet minister during the PPP tenure and he termed it a conflict of interest to appear before a committee headed by a former PPP minister.