The sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday took a serious notice of free distribution of curriculum books among private educational institutions and sought complete details of the activity.
The committee also summoned the details of the land of Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) worth Rs 900 million that was replaced by land of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on nominal rates. The members of sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee met under the leadership of chairperson Yasmin Rehman to review the audit paras of the Ministries of Capital Administration and Development and National Harmony.
During the meeting it was revealed that the audit para issues were being faced by PAC and its sub-committee regarding the ministries and departments that were shifted to the provinces under the devolution plan after the passage of the 18th Amendment. The audit officials pointed out this issue particularly toward the chair and the members.
Riffat Shaheen , the newly-appointed secretary to the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development (CAD), appeared unprepared and confused before the members of the PAC sub-committee.
Over the issue of amount worth Rs 1,015,485 withdrawn by a high school teacher named Hazoor Bux through bogus bills in year 2004-05, the secretary said the particular teacher was removed from his position and he did not apply for his pension and other retirement perks, adding that the case had been forwarded to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Dr Shahnaaz Anjum Riaz, Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) director general, told the members of the sub-committee that there were over 1,000 private schools in the federal capital, while the number of government schools was above 450, adding that only 500-600 of the 1,000 private schools were registered. On the issue of fee for registering a private school, Dr Shahnaaz said the current fee for registration of a private school was Rs 5,000, however, she had recently reviewed a proposal to raise the fee to Rs 100,000.
The committee chairperson, however, said the FDE should revise the registration fee within a month.
The FDE DG also disclosed that recently the FDE had freely distributed around 0.215m curriculum books among private schools, adding that the FDE provided free books to private educational institutions as well. On a demand by Hamid Yar Hiraj, the committee chairperson directed the FDE DG to give a detailed briefing to the committee within three weeks. The Ministry of Finance officials also pointed out that without approval from the Ministry of Finance, the FDE was not eligible for free distribution of books among private schools.
Yasmin Rehman also summoned the details, including the names of schools, number of distributed books, the cost of the books and other relevant data.
While reviewing audit paras related to the Ministry of National Harmony, audit officials said the EPTB gave its land worth Rs 900 million to the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in exchange for land worth the same amount, however, DHA avoided providing the land in return. It was informed that in return for the ETPB land, only a few plots were provided to the EPTB by DHA that were not costly and of low value. The PAC body sought complete details and a report from the authorities concerned into the matter.
It was also disclosed that the EPTB had unending open non-official members, with nine of the total 12 board members from Punjab, excluding Hindu religion, while EPTB Chairman Asif Hashmi was a Muslim. The PAC body raised serious reservations, directing the audit officials to check the details of complete record of the board regarding its members, lands and other affairs and to file a report with the committee.
Meanwhile, committee member Akram Masih Gill demanded appointment of a non-Muslim as the EPTB chairman. He said former federal minister Rais Munir used EPTB money in his constituency, while Muslims were performing Haj on minorities’ money, which was unjust.
