BAQAUL MOHSIN

BAHAWALPUR - The general manager of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Bahawalpur printing press alleged that the BISE had become a centre of corruption, saying that it had suffered a loss of Rs30million due to the purchase of substandard paper.
“I was suspended because of not being part of the corruption and now I have been threatened to shut my mouth else I will be killed along with my family members. If a loss of life or property is caused to me or my family, the chairman and secretary of the board as well as Jamaal Brothers Lahore will be responsible,” he said talking to the media.
He said that when he refused to become part of the corruption plan, he was suspended on December 17, 2012 without any reason. He said that he had informed the Board chairman and other officials about the situation but to no avail.
He detailed, “10,000 rims of 68 grams 127x27 paper were purchased in the year 2012 without following legal formalities by paying Rs10 million to M/S Jamaal Brothers Lahore. The term of specification of paper were waved of only to benefit the company.” He added that the paper supplied by the firm was not according to the specification.
Some 6,500 rims of paper (68 grams 17x27) were purchased in the year 2011 from the company by paying additional Rs182,000 to M/S Jamal Brothers.
“Similarly in the year 2011-12, despite having Bahawalpur Board’s own printing press and my report that we are in position to meet the demand of examination sheets, an order of 750,000 examination answer sheets was placed at Rs7 per sheet and paid the firm accordingly. While a similar amount of copies was printed in General Printing Press Bahawalpur Board where the cost was Rs4 per sheet. In this way, the benefit of Rs2.1 million was given to the firm,” he said.
He further alleged that 1,132 rims of imported 80 gram paper worth Rs1.2 million was wasted by the Secret Press of BISE but no one claimed responsibility of the loss. “1,000 rims of 55gm paper were purchased in 2011 but the contractor supplied substandard paper. In presence of a report about the substandard paper, a payment of more than Rs900,000 was made to the contractor. Substandard paper is lying in the general printing press unused,” he disclosed.
This correspondent made several attempts to contact the board’s official for comment but to no avail.