ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament has directed all the ministries, divisions, and attached departments to conduct monthly Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meetings to settle the accounts.

Chairman PAC Rana Tanvir Hussain, while chairing a meeting of the committee, here on Wednesday, said that the panel has to discuss and review 24,000 pending paras of various public sectors entities of the last year, whereas, in India maximum 200 audit objections are being presented before the PAC as the DACs are settling most of the audit objections there.

While discussing the budgetary grants of the Ministry of Aviation, the panel, while expressing serious anger over the laps of massive budgetary allocations to the Aviation Division, directed the secretary Aviation Division to brief the panel in the next meeting.

The PAC also directed the secretary to the president, the secretary to the prime minister, and the secretary cabinet to attend the next meeting of the PAC.

The PAC noted that the Aviation Division had failed to utilise Rs2 billion out of Rs2.8 developmental budget.

The secretary aviation informed the panel that Rs145 billion assets of Benazir International Airport were under the control of the Pakistan Air Force as after the completion of the New Islamabad International Airport the Civil Aviation Authority shifted air operations to the newly-constructed airport but could not secure Rs145 billion assets.

The PAC was informed that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, had constituted a committee on the above matter, which was to present the report, adding that after the completion of the report, it would be shared with the PAC.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021