ISLAMABAD:The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday demanded from the Ministry of Railways to ensure strict compliance with audit paras for a transparent probe into irregularities highlighted in the detailed report and help secure precious national exchequer funds in various projects of the Ministry.
The meeting was chaired by PAC chairman Noor Alam Khan who directed the representatives of the Ministry of Railways to make the institution a profitable entity.
Pointing out an issue of misappropriation and misuse of power by a Railways official, MNA Noor Alam Khan told the Secretary Railways that the Deputy Director of Property and Land of Railways in Peshawar harassed a businessman for giving him bribes. He directed the authorities concerned to conduct an inquiry against the said officer by taking stern disciplinary action to set a precedent for others.
He also requested all PAC members and conveners to recommend blacklisting the Akeel Karim Dhedhi Securities Private Limited (AKD) company for its poor performance, and outstanding lease dues for the Pakistan Railways’ land of 10,207 square kilometers in Karachi. He also directed to send the issue directly to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The Committee recommended that the briefing on para no. 2.5.65 brief should be given by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Auditor General of Pakistan, Pakistan Railways and Finance Division to resolve this issue within 15 days.
“The responsibility should be fixed after inquiry on officials concerned and the lease shall stand canceled from today and it should be vacated by force in Akeel Dhedhi case and Auditor General office should be part of this process,” the chair noted.
MNA Sheikh Rohale Asghar pointed out that the General Manager of the Railways department was hanging up telephone calls of the Committee members and lacked the courtesy to respond. The PAC chairman urged all the secretaries that they were civil servants and bound to respond to the parliamentarians’ telephone calls, saying that the parliamentarians were representatives of the public.
Noor Alam Khan apprised the committee that he had sent a letter on the above matter of misappropriation by the Railways official in Peshawar on Dec 26, 2022, but the Secretary did not reply to it.
“People will prefer to commute on trains if the Railways department provided them proper basic facilities,” he said.
Deputy Auditor General said the Railways have not collected the tax liable deposited in FBR from various contractors while the FBR tax authorities can elaborate on the matter.
The chairman PAC directed the Railways officials to apprise the Supreme Court that the PAC took notice and blacklisted the AKD firm whereas the compliance report should be given within a month but the lease cancellation letter to be issued within a week. The direction should be circulated widely through print and electronic media, he added.
The last three paras of the report should be resolved under the DAC to be held and a report of occupied land should be presented before the PAC in the next meeting regarding the Railways. Member of Finance Railways Kashif Noor apprised the committee that the land inquiry is underway and apparently it was given for welfare purposes.
The PAC asked to hand over the issue cited in the third para no. 2.5.54 regarding the irregular award of contract to the second highest bidder to FIA for action compliance within a month.
The Committee had given 15 days to the Ministry to resolve the audit para no. 2.5.88 regarding loss due to non-realization of penalty charges from M/s ZIYANG CRRC and the responsibility should be fixed on the responsible authority for slackness.
MNA Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmed said the Railways Auction Committee should be presented before FIA for a thorough and result-oriented probe into the matter. Referring to para no. 2.5.3 related to the unauthorized deposit of funds into private accounts of Pakistan Railways, he said the private accounts should not be allowed to public entities.
Replying to a plethora of queries, Secretary Railways apprised the Committee that an inquiry was marked and the probe was underway. “I give a firm commitment that action will be taken and compliance report to be submitted within a week against the Peshawar official involved in harassment of the local.”
He said the Railways has 168,000 acres of total land and out of which 5,000 acres were encroached, adding most of it was done by government departments and the matter was taken up with them.
He said 40 DACs held since his charge and a total of 23 cases were decided.
The PAC meeting was attended by MNA Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, MNA Nuzhat Pathan, MNA Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, MNA Wajiha Qamar, MNA Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, MNA Khursheed Ahmed Junejo, MNA Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, MNA Naveed Dero, Shahida Ali Akbar, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Senator Mohsin Aziz (via video link).