Auditor General of Pakistan Akhtar Buland Rana called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at the Prime Minister’s House on Monday and apprised him about the working of his office. Rana told the prime minister that his office it ensured the audit of all government organisations every year and the report was presented to the prime minister accordingly.
Prime Minister Ashraf said the office of the auditor general was very important as it was the custodian of the public’s money. He said he would like to ensure the autonomy of the auditor general’s office, which would enable it to undertake its responsibilities on the basis of transparency and accountability, the linchpin of good governance.
The prime minister assured the auditor general that the government would bring a bill in parliament known as the Audit and Accounts Bill. He expressed his concern that the office was still being run under an ordinance and no legislation to the effect had even been undertaken. Rana said without the autonomy, the international organisations expressed their reluctance to accept the findings of the AG office and insisted on the third party validation. He said the Audit and Account Bill was very important for the credibility of the constitutional office that was assigned such an important constitutional responsibility of auditing the expenditures of the tax payers’ money.
Balochistan: Minister for National Food Security and Research Israrullah Zehri also called on the prime minister and apprised him about the overall situation in Balochistan, which, he said demanded the prime minister’s immediate attention.
Zehri underscored the importance of installation of tube wells in Balochistan based on solar energy which, according to him, would be efficient and cost effective. He expressed his satisfaction on the priority being given to solar energy in the current PSDP projects.
The prime minister said Balochistan was his top priority and he would soon visit the province to meet the cross section of society with a view to address the sense of alienation of the Baloch people. Ashraf said the subsidy on tube wells would continue as it was important for the agriculture of the province and well being of farmers.
