Not just do the ruling elite enjoy luxurious lifestyles at the expense of the taxpayers, but they move around in official bulletproof vehicles, in violation of the rules. The misuse of bulletproof vehicles came to light when the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by its new Chairman, Nadeem Afzal Chan, examined the audit objections to the Cabinet Division’s telecom sector. The committee was given a list of those who were provided these vehicles, and asked for a list of those who were not allowed to have them, and ordered them taken back from those not authorized. Secretary Cabinet Division Nargis Sethi informed the committee that these vehicles are in use of Chairman Senate; Chairman Joint Chief of Staff; Army Chief; PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif; PML-Q- Chief Chaudhary Shujat; Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar; Chief Minister Balochistan; Chief Minister KPK; Asfand Yar Wali; Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira; Speaker KPK and three under use of the PM. The committee gave a month for the rules to be amended to entitle those not previously entitled, failing which the recoveries would proceed.
As if to make matters worse, it appears that these vehicles, some of which are being misused by unauthorized persons, were acquired without amending the rules, in 2004-5. The Cabinet Secretary told the committee that she did not have the courage to take back the vehicles, and that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had directed a lot of money spent on their maintenance. The committee did not apparently take the suggestion, which implies an audit in its own right, of how new vehicles came to need maintenance.
The committee had not been working since the resignation of its previous Chairman, Ch Nisar Ali, and its resumption of functioning has led to the revelation of yet another way in which the people are exploited by those in power. While there has not yet been a list provided of those who are not permitted by the rules to get bulletproof vehicles, the list provided, also includes some who seem to have been obliged politically. The difference between actual practice and the rules does not just extend to bulletproof vehicles, but to other areas. This shows not only a weak hand at the tiller, but a casual attitude. Salvation lies in a close attention being paid to the application of the rules, rather than in having a friend of the PM’s as Auditor General. The committee has a duty to ensure that the government obeys the rules, for audit objections only end if they are not there in the first place. That is what the committee should be aiming for.