The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has referred the issue of fake certificates and excessive recruitments in Pakistan Post during the PDM regime to NAB. The committee has also summoned National Bank officials in the next meeting regarding the issue of spending Rs 4 billion received as electricity bills of consumers. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee Chairman Junaid Akbar Khan on Thursday.
In addition to the committee members, the meeting was attended by the Secretary Communications, Auditor General and officers of other institutions. The meeting reviewed the audit objections related to the Ministry of Communications.
In the meeting, regarding the audit objection the unauthorized opening of accounts in the National Bank by the Pakistan Post Office Department, the audit officials said that the Finance Division had allowed the opening of three accounts, but the Pakistan Post Office opened two more accounts and no action has been taken by the department yet.
On this, the Secretary Communications told the committee that the Pakistan Post Office is facing many challenges. The Chairman Committee inquired as to why approval was not taken from the Finance Department in one and a half years. He said that the Finance Department is saying that the matter has not come to us, the Secretary is saying that we have sent it. The committee sought a response from the Finance Ministry on the matter. Funds worth Rs 4 billion have been used by the Pakistan Post Office despite being approved and authorized, on which the Secretary Communications said that we have taken departmental action.
He said that Pakistan Post’s reconciliation with the National Bank is very important. The chairman of the committee said that how you used the money for utility bills were the bills of the people that they had collected. He said that electricity bills were collected in your post office and you used that money. Member of the committee Khawaja Shiraz Mahmood said that this is robbery, what action has been taken against these people so far.
The chairman of the committee inquired how you used other people’s money, but after not getting any satisfactory answer, the committee summoned the National Bank officials in the next meeting on the matter. In the meeting, the audit officials said that instead of the 3,938 approved posts, 4,252 were advertised by the Pakistan Post officials and thus 314 additional recruitments were made. On this, the Secretary of Communications told the committee that a stay order has been issued by the court on this matter.
On this, the chairman of the committee said that the people who have been recruited, most of whom have fake documents, said that these jobs have been sold and you are saying That the injunction is in order, member of the committee, Senator Afnanullah Khan, said that in this matter, the one who took the money also did wrong and the one who gave the money also did wrong. Action should be taken against both.
The chairman of the committee inquired that action should also be taken against the one who appointed. On this occasion, the committee handed over the matter of illegal recruitments to NAB for investigation and decided to also call the Attorney General on the issue of injunction cases. During the PAC meeting, it was revealed that the Motorway Police and NHA have defaulted on billions of rupees.
In the meeting, the audit officials informed that the NHA has not collected rent of Rs 11.76 billion from the National Highways and Motorway Police. The audit officials informed that 160 buildings of NHA across Pakistan are in use by the National Highways and Motorway Police, of which Rs 11.7 billion is the rent that has not been collected.
On this, the Secretary of Communications told the committee that this is our internal matter, both We have subsidiaries. Give us some time, we will resolve this issue. The chairman of the committee said that a DAC was held on this issue in 2019 as well. By when will this issue be resolved? The committee gave the Ministry of Communications three months to resolve the issue.
