Embezzlement in financial issues of the District Public School Kasur took a new turn when Kasur Sessions Judge Humayun Imtiaz summoned the executive district officer (EDO) (finance) the other day and showed dissatisfaction over the issue of the alleged DPS embezzlement.
DPS Parents Action Committee Representative Chaudhry Imtiaz Ahmed Advocate, Ali Gohar Ansari Advocate, Sahbizada Syed Qasim Ali Hamdani Advocate, Abid Ali Bhatti, Chaudhry Ghaffar and Chaudhry Zahoor Ahmed Advocate had filed a petition in the Kasur sessions court, requesting the court to order the DPS administration to provide the audit report of the school in the court. The court conducted the hearing of the case and ordered the EDO to present the audit report in the court on May 3, 2011.
It was alleged in the petition that the DPS administration purchased costly things without any purchase committee, gave salaries to its staff without any grading, prepared a bogus budget, millions of rupees were embezzled on the pretext of vehicles’ repair and auctioned canteen without any record. The petition further stated that the administration also ignored recommendations of the inspection team that suggested the DPS administration to get an audit of internal matters of the school by any third company.
During the hearing of the case, the judge observed that the court would protect the rights of the parents whose children were enrolled in the DPS. The sessions judge rejected the plea of representative of EDO (finance) and ordered the EDO and the DPS principal to appear in the court on Friday (today) with the audit report 2009-10.
According to the DPS Audit and Inspection report 2009-10, available with Pakistan Today, the EDO constituted a 3-member committee on the request of the principal of DPS. The members of the body were: Kasur Deputy District Officer (F&P) Muhammad Waseem, Kasur Deputy District Officer (Accounts) Faisal Amin and Deputy District Officer (planning) Rashid Saeed.
The body inspected the accounts of the DPS and, on January 1, 2011, found the following 24 irregularities in the matters of the DPS.
1- The DPS budget 2009-10 is not appropriately approved.
2- Spendings are executed without the approval of any authority.
3- Over Rs 400,000 were spent illegally on the purchase of a machine.
4- Over Rs 6 lakh were spent on the renovation of the school by violating budget rules.
5- Over Rs 300,000 were spent on printing and stationery wrongly.
6- Rs 92,225 were spent on the pretext of celebrations in the school.
7- Rs 43,699 were spent on the repair of a special vehicle while the budget does not allow so huge amount.
8- There is no logic in the total spending and revenue of the school.
9- The DPS is being run without the schedule of establishment that is very essential to know the strength of the staff of the school.
10- Most of the items have been bought without the recommendation of a purchase committee though notification had been issued for its formation.
11- Permanent stock register, usable things register, record of 2009-10 canteen auction, furniture register, stationery register, and advance register were not presented to the 3-member body for inspection.
12- No proper reply was given when the issue of the sanctioned amount for refreshments for the principal was raised.
13- No proper response was given when question of spending on purchase of stationery and printing of result cards was asked.
14- Over Rs 1.7 million were spent on the purchase of furniture in 2009-10 without any sanction of the DCO and no quotation was sought. It was purchased through a bogus firm named Hakim and Sons Kasur which does not exist in Kasur.
15- No record is available regarding the purchase of a generator for Rs one million.
16- Purchases were made through unregistered firms and no cuts were made under the income tax and general sales tax.
17- On April 22, 2009, furniture worth Rs 708,600 was purchased that was not mentioned in stock.
18- The DPS administration is silent on the issuance of cheque No 6394676 dated April 2, 2009.
19- The DPS administration got conducted all civil works sporadically in a dubious way.
20- The DPS administration did not issue a certificate of keeping a tally of accounts in cash book at the end of every month.
21- No response was made on the issuance of a cheque No 6894659 dated April 227, 2009 to an unregistered workshop.
22- The committee also found irregularity in issuance of cheque No 6894661 dated April 27, 2009 by the DCO for prize distribution ceremony.
23- Over Rs 2.8 million for staff salaries through Cheque No 6894677 dated April 27, 2009 were paid but no list of staff was prepared and attached with the bill.
24- The body also found budget 2009-10 full of irregularities in connection with spending and revenue and recommended an audit of the DPS of last five years through any chartered accountant firm.