Apart from indulging in financial irregularities like other public-sector organisations, the Ministry of Defence pays but very little heed to the directives of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), as the status of compliance of PAC directives for the audit reports of defence services from 1989-90 to 2005-06 reveal that the ministry’s full compliance reaches only 12.29 percent, while nil-compliance stands at 65.02 percent.
No compliance:
The audit report 2010-11 for the accounts of defence services reveals that as many as 682 audit paras of the audit reports of the Defence Ministry from 1989-90 to 2005-06 were discussed by the PAC between January 1998 to December 2010, for which directions were passed by the PAC on 529 audit paras.
“Full compliance by the ministry on the 529 audit paras was found in 65 cases (12.29 percent), partial compliance was observed in 120 cases (22.69 percent), while 344 directions (65.02%) of the PAC were not complied with by the Ministry of Defence,” the report adds.
The audit official say the compliance position shows that adherence to PAC directives was slow and required to be expedited by the principal accounting officer (defence secretary).
The Defence Ministry’s careless attitude towards PAC can also be judged from the fact that the ministry did not only fail to submit GHQ’s probe report on the NLC scam before the parliamentary committee within the June 30 deadline set by the PAC, but it also did not initiate action against three retired generals found guilty in the Planning Commission’s inquiry report in on the multi-billion scam.
The audit report 2010-11 further points out that the post of the Cantonment Board Clifton president and DHA Karachi administrator was held by one person.
The report says that internal audit reports and general statement of accounts were not being sent by the local audit controller to the Directorate General Audit (Defence Services) to check their effectiveness and control. Local audit controller (Defence Services) may provide internal audit reports and general statement of accounts to both Directorates General Audit (Defence Services) about concerned areas to check their effectiveness and control over defence expenditure and receipts.
Key Audit Findings of the audit report 2010-11 are as follows:
1) Irregular/unauthorised expenditure of Rs 284.624 million in seven cases
2) Diversion of receipts of Rs 37.986 and $0.065 million in six cases.
3) Violation of rules of Rs 6,557.182 million in 12 cases
4) Losses of Rs 194.480 million in seven cases
5) Weak internal control of Rs 3,118.693 million, $5.844 million and £0.045 million, FF 4.044 million in nine cases
6) Less/non-recovery of government/cantonment dues of Rs 148.953 million in nine cases
7) Fraud/embezzlement of Rs 84.287 million in five cases
8) Non-recovery of risk and expense amount of Rs 22.651 million in one case.
The Auditor-General of Pakistan has recommended that defence officers, cantonment executive officers and garrison engineers need to sanction expenditure per rules and make prompt realisation of government dues.
