ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was held here on Tuesday under the chair of Acting Chairperson Shahida Akhtar Ali, where the lapse of Rs1.22 billion from the Power Division’s grant was discussed.
PAC member Shazia Marri remarked that such lapses also cause distress to the public, adding that every department should hold itself accountable. Officials informed the committee that a package for Balochistan was announced in 2008, which was originally designed for a 33kV grid station and later had a revised PC-1 prepared.
The Power Secretary stated that these funds should have been surrendered on time. Syed Hussain Tariq questioned whether anything was actually achieved after spending so much money. Consequently, the committee requested an efficiency report on the relevant project from the audit officials.
Regarding an audit objection about various Discos (power distribution companies) failing to complete asset tagging and revaluation, audit officials stated that every power company is required to maintain a register for everything, but several Discos have not tagged their assets. They stressed that tagging must be done for all Discos first, warning that when assets are not tagged, items go missing.
Tariq Fazal Chaudhry suggested calling the Privatisation Minister at a suitable time to brief the committee. Chaudhry Nazeer Ahmed Abbas noted that GEPCO owns billions of rupees’ worth of land, to which the Power Secretary clarified that they are not giving land to anyone.
Syed Hussain Tariq asked if privatisation is set to take place in January, will they be able to revalue assets across 13 districts in time? Shazia Marri expressed concern that such a vital institution would end up privatised at throwaway prices and asked who has been shortlisted for privatisation. The Power Secretary responded that all privatisation work is being handled by the Privatisation Commission.
Munaza Hassan remarked that privatisation is planned for January, calling it sheer incompetence if they could not complete this task in a year, and asked if they were going to sell it for pennies. She urged that the Privatisation Commission be summoned, adding that assets worth billions are being sold for dirt cheap, similar to how PIA’s assets and airline operations were separated and sold.
Syed Hussain Tariq inquired about the fate of DISCO staff after privatisation, while Shazia Marri raised concerns regarding job safety and security. The committee subsequently decided to summon the Privatisation Commission for a briefing on Discos’ privatisation and granted the Power Division additional time regarding the audit objection.
The Acting Committee Chairperson stated that privatisation should not proceed until the true value is determined, and the committee recommended halting the privatisation process until valuation is completed. Shazia Marri further noted that PIA’s privatisation was not an ideal model.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026