Ijaz Kakakhel
The Public Accounts Committee on Friday asked the Ministry of Finance to apprise the committee over issuing of grants to different ministries/divisions without approval from the parliament.
While discussing different audit paras of Ministry of Narcotics Control, the Audit General office informed the committee that the government provided two types of grants, one gets approval from the parliament along with the annual budget and the second grant could not approve from the parliament.
The PAC was of the view non-approval grant to ministries/divisions was not according to the law and asked the government to stop such practices.
Chairman PAC Rana Tanveer termed such non-approval supplementary grant as illegal and directed the ministry of finance to stop it immediately.
The PAC asked the ministry of finance to provide details of all such supplementary grants which could not get approval from the parliament in last three years.
Member PAC Naveed Qamar was of the view that the finance ministry should come and explain why it forwarded grants without approval from the parliament.
The issue arises when the PAC take to discuss the supplementary grant Rs77.6 million accounts (civilian) were issued to Narcotics Control Division without approval from the parliament during 2018-19.
The committee further informed that the division was unable to spent the entire amount.
The PAC questioned that why the ministry took extra grant and then unable to spent it.
The PAC also discussed an audit paras of ministry of Narcotics Control, in which the Auditor General office informed the committee that the Anti –Narcotics Control Regional Directorate Peshawar had confiscated six properties worth Rs1.049 billion since 2006.
According to Narcotics Laws, land of building property of assets like hotel, business concerns, factories, industrial units shall be disposed of by public auction by the committee to be nominated by the Director-General in consultation with the Administrator.
Audit observed that these properties were held by the management since 2006 and have not been auctioned causing opportunity cost to the government.
The ministry of narcotics control told the PAC that the case under process, and the audit will be apprised once the auction was complete.
The newly Secretary Narcotics Division Akbar Durrani informed the PAC that the ministry has two option either to auction the properties or use it for department uses.
In 2011 auction announced but a single bidder come but could not finalize the auction.
Similar efforts for auction was made in 2019 but it was also not successful.
The PAC deferred the audit paras of the ministry of Narcotics Control with a view to get guidance from ministry of finance in this regard.
