QUETTA: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly has uncovered financial irregularities, including billions of rupees in unsurrendered savings and funds improperly held in private bank accounts by government officials, according to a news report.
More troubling was a breach identified between 2020 and 2022, where deputy commissioners held over Rs19.14 billion in private bank accounts instead of depositing the funds into the provincial treasury as required by financial rules.
An audit report for 2016-17 revealed that Rs740.6 million in savings from an allocated Rs3.34 billion in non-development funds were not surrendered, reflecting weak fiscal control.
The audit also revealed a lack of transparency in government finances, with auditors being denied access to expenditure records worth Rs33.74 million from 2019-21.
Additionally, the government failed to collect over Rs1.1 billion in Usher, irrigation tax, and agricultural income tax, depriving the provincial exchequer of critical revenue.
The audit reports were reviewed by the provincial PAC during its meeting under the chair of Asghar Ali Tareen. The PAC meeting also found serious lapses in financial discipline, highlighting gross violations in the handling of budget allocations and revenue collection across multiple government departments.
Further findings included improper issuance of cheques worth Rs228.96 million from commissioners’ offices, made out to Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) rather than directly to vendors.
The committee has directed the immediate submission of all pending records to audit authorities and called for the mandatory deposit of withheld funds into the provincial treasury.
PAC chairman stressed that strict adherence to financial rules is essential to ensuring financial discipline and warned that negligent officers would face consequences for failing to comply with PAC directives issued as far back as 2020.
