PAC orders Commerce Ministry to hold inquiry into missing millions

Author: Shahzad paracha

ISLAMABAD: A sub-committee of the Public Accounts committee directed the Ministry of Commerce to conduct an inquiry within 2 months against spending millions of rupees in purchasing luxury vehicles and furniture, unauthorised payment of education subsidy, excess expenditure on account of entertainment charges and overpayment of pay and allowances.

The Public Accounts sub-committee met under the chair of convener Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang on Thursday in which MOC and its attached departments audit reports of fiscal year 2009-10 were discussed. Audit officials told the committee that the trade ministry overpaid overpayment three trade officer (Aftab Anwer Baloch, Muhammad Ilyas and Dr Safdar Sohail) stationed in commercial wing at Nairobi and Moscow on the account of 15 percent incidental charges. The matter was conveyed to the Minister and mission in August 2010.

The Departmental Accounts committee (DAC) in its meeting in 2011 directed to recover the amount of overpayment from the concerned officials within one month, officials further added. While replying to queries, Ministry of Commerce Secretary Azmat Ali Ranjha stated that the ministry had written a letter to the concerned officer Aftab Anwer Baloch in this regard.

Audit officials said that the ministry, while ignoring the rules, paid an amount of $5386 2341 BRS and 8470 CHF to Moscow, Sao Paulo and WTO Geneva based officers on the account of education subsidy between 2006 and 2009. It is pertinent to mention here that according to the rules, the government will provide an education subsidy to the two children of officers between the ages of 5 to 18 years up to 80 percent of actual cost of education.

In this case, the children were over eighteen years old, and thus this payment was considered un-authorised. On this occasion, Trade Ministry officials said that an amount of Rs 44,056 has been recovered from Aftab Anwer Baloch, the trade officer of Moscow while they have written to other missions for early recovery of the remaining amount. The audit requested the convener that Committee directs to officials that remaining amount be recovered as early as possible.