Chief Executive Officer (CEO) National Testing Service, Dr Sherzada Khan said on Friday that Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has no mandate to conduct the audit of NTS, as the government is not providing funds to the company. Addressing a press conference the CEO NTS said that Higher Education Commission (HEC) is out to harm NTS. The audit report about NTS was presented in a wrong way, claimed Sherzada Khan, adding that AGP cannot conduct its audit and only SECP could conduct its audit.
"If anybody took personal advantages/benefits, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should conduct investigation. With the approval of board of governors, legal action would be taken against HEC and media," he added. The CEO further said that COMSAT had given the principle amount for the establishment of NTS while the remaining is earned by the NTS itself. The NTS has been dubbed as money plundering institution, which is wrong, he claimed.
A parliamentary committee has expressed satisfaction over NTS performance, said the CEO, adding that the institution was made for the betterment of the country and if there is any weakness, the NTS should be guided for improvement. "The HEC has become our competitor by launching testing services," said the CEO, adding that HEC is causing financial losses to the NTS. He said that audit of NTS was carried on the demand of HEC, adding the HEC wrote three letters to NTS for audit but no reply was given as the AGP is not authorised to conduct audit of the NTS. Several of the HEC projects are going in losses, he claimed. He said the AGP has stated that there should be separate account for every project which is not possible.