PAC recovers Rs 165 billion embezzled funds: Sardar Ayaz Sadiq

National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee for Railways on Saturday expressed deep concern over 'unjustified expenditure of Rs 18.954million on the construction of an underpass in Sangla hill by the Railways top slot. The Committee was informed that former railways minister Chaudhry Muhammad Barjis Tahir had then ordered the construction of the underpass.
But, the PAC for Railways Chairperson Ms Yasmeen Rehman, while chairing the meeting at Railway Headquarters, questioned that who had given mandate to rail for constructing underpasses. She regretted the amount could be utilised to execute some other important work within the utility. The PAC also ordered for further enquiry into the matter.
Ayaz Sadiq (MNA), Riaz Fatyana (MNA), Saeed Ahmad Zafar(MNA), senior Railways officials and IG Railways Police were also present on the occasion. The Committee also took the matter of leasing 19 Railways' schools at nominal rent. The audit report 2004-05 pointed out the rail administration decided to lease out 19 schools with a view to improve quality of education and reduce financial burden of the organisation.
In this regard, the report stated, each school having average total area of 81,418 sq ft and an average covered area of 21,237 sq ft was leased out to M/s Educational Services Limited (ESL) in the year 2001 at a nominal rent of Rs 5,000 per school per month. Ironically, the report added that the ESL rented out canteens of three schools located in Lahore at an average monthly rent of Rs 9,167, about double of the total school rent, with the security deposit of Rs 123,333 per canteen.
"This also substantiates Audit's point of view that schools were rented out at nominal rent." The members of the Committee said that no one would be allowed to misuse the railways' property. The PAC, on this, also felt the absence of the Railways Property and Land Director in the meeting as an unbearable attitude and directed the Railways General Manager to take serious notice of his absence.
The PAC, on Saturday, discussed the audit paras of previous audit reports from 2004 to 2007. Important of them were the non-recovery of rental charges amounting Rs 0.764million from a firm, loss of Rs 11.888 million due to procurement of defective material and damage to locomotives during trial, dead inventories valuing Rs 34.i67million due to unnecessary purchase of material.
While feeling mishaps in tendering process of the railways in back years, the PAC stressed the rail administration for making the tendering process further transparent. The PAC was informed about the improvements in this regard. The Committee member informed the media that they had discussed 45 paras of the audit reports among them five have been settled while 40 are still pending.
In response to a question, the MNAs replied that the PAC had never protected the corruption if made by their fellow politicians and that their actions are speaking louder in this regard. The PAC has so far recovered Rs 165billion amount which the corrupt people have looted in back year, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said.