ISLAMABAD - The government on Wednesday admitted during a Public Accounts Committee meeting that diesel and petrol purchased at the rate ranging between Rs 30 to 35 per litre was being sold out at the rate of Rs 70 to 80 per litre to the people.
The PAC meeting, held at the parliament house under its chairman Syed Khursheed Shah, reviewed audit observations regarding the ministries of petroleum, food and agriculture.
The national food security secretary revealed billions of rupees released for Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan project during the PPP regime were returned unspent.
The auditor general said the directives issued by the PAC were not being implemented in time. “The finance ministry should introduce reforms in the system in the light of the PAC directives. The PAC has sent 40 directives to the finance ministry, but no measures have been taken by it in this regard,” he regretted.
The PAC chairman said a joint meeting of the finance minister and the auditor general of Pakistan had been summoned at which decision would be taken to introduce reforms in the financial matters of the ministry.
Azam Swati said financial irregularities of billions of rupees had been unearthed in the accounts of the ministries. The corrupt elements behind these malpractices should be brought to justice, he added.
PTI MNA Dr Arif Alvi said there were numerous complaints about seeds of crops, demanding a strong action to address these. The food secretary said the department had taken action on wrong seeds while new rules had also been framed on this count. He hoped the situation would improve after the implementation of these rules.
The PAC chairman expressed concern that rules could not be framed even after the whole one year, adding no practical work was done despite spending Rs 10 billion on advertisements. He ordered the ministry to make rules within one month otherwise strict action would be taken against it.
The PAC constituted a sub-committee under Ashiq Gopang to review audit observations pertaining to massive financial irregularities worth billions of rupees. These audit objections were dealt with in the light of the PAC inquiry.