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Another Rs3 billion to be added to national exchequer soon
LAHORE: A report containing details of the departmental inquiries carried out from July 2016 to January 2018 on Wednesday was presented at a meeting of the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).
The meeting chaired by the ACE Lahore Director General (DG) Brigadier (r) Muzaffar Ali Ranjha, was told that a recovered amount of Rs2 billion was added to the national exchequer while another Rs3 billion was to be added soon.
It was also revealed during the meeting that within the said duration of two years, a total number of 33,821 complaints were received and 33,198 of the complaints were addressed and settled. 16,840 inquiries were initiated while 16,499 were brought to their logical conclusions.
Moreover, 4,175 cases were registered out of which 3,527 were closed after completion of investigations. 1,919 challans were also submitted besides 2,869 arrests, at least 509 raids being carried out and the direct recovery of 126.24 million rupees.
Imperative decisions regarding the recovery of cash in cases pertaining to monetary values, deadlines of the cases and visits to the circles of the regional directors as well as the tehsil (sub-district) offices, were also made during the meeting.
Additional director general, all regional directors and officers from the headquarters also participated in the meeting.
Speaking at the occasion, ACE Lahore DG Brigadier (r) Muzaffar Ali Ranjha said that the anti-corruption department was an independent authority working without any pressure.
“This is why the department has successfully cracked major corruption scandals of the Punjab Power Development Company, Punjab Saaf Pani Company, Punjab Land Development Company and Punjab Constabulary Multan,” he said and added that a lot of work was still needed to be done in order to maintain the good name of the department.
He told that seven kanals of land had been acquired for the construction of the anti-corruption regional office in Rawalpindi whereas a beautiful office building of the department had already been established in Sargodha. “The reason behind the establishment of these offices is to offer the best working environment to the officers,” he said.
The ACE Lahore DG said that the department’s modern computerised system was not only praised by former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Jamali, but it was also declared Asia’s best case management system by the representatives of the World Bank.
He also directed the regional directors to wrap up all monetary value cases of the year 2015 by April 31, and those of 2016 by June 2018. He ordered the regional directors to ensure recovery of the embezzled money so that it could be added to the national exchequer.
During a presentation, anti-corruption spokesperson Sadia Ijaz shared the facts and figures of all cases that had surfaced within the years 2008 and 2017. It was revealed in the presentation that 607 cases against the Government and Community Development, 249 against Communication & Works, and the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department respectively, 195 cases against the Irrigation Department, 165 against the Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Department, 127 against the Revenue Department and 125 cases against the School Education Department were registered.
Similarly, 82 cases against the Forestry and Wildlife Department, 61 cases against the Home Department, 59 against the Agriculture Department, 58 against the Service and General Administration Department, 55 against the Higher Education Department, 33 cases against the Cooperative Department, and another 230 cases against several departments including the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, and the Planning and Development Department, to name a few, were also registered.
It was told that all the said cases were registered against officers of BS-17 to 22 over alleged corruption.
Following the presentation, ACE Lahore DG Ranjha appreciated the efforts of the anti-corruption department’s officers for their exceptional performance and directed them to ensure that no applicant suffered due to any sorts of delay in serving justice.
He also said that the people’s faith in the anti-corruption department had now been increased and timely efforts to curb the menace of corruption were proving to be fruitful.
The officers thanked the Punjab government and the department for providing them with vehicles for official use and said that the provision of conveyance would help in timely action and an even more efficient performance.