News
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Govt to cease secret funds of all federal ministries* Two top spy agencies exempted g Move comes amid SC concerns
ISLAMABAD: In response to the Supreme Court’s expression of concern in recent days over the misuse of government’s secret fund, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government has decided to cease the secret fund of all federal ministries except two top spy agencies.
According to the budget speech document, in the name of secret service expenditure a number of ministries and departments have been incurring such expenditure which is excluded from audit. “This exclusion from audit was meant for such expenditures incurred by agencies connected with the national security. We have taken immediate cognisance of this matter and yesterday Ministry of Finance has issued necessary instructions for immediate ceasing of such expenditures and return of unspent balances. Simultaneously, the allocations for the next year have been cancelled. Henceforth, such secret service expenditures will be made only by agencies connected with national security,” the budget speech document read.
It is also stated that appropriate amendment is being made in law and rules for this purpose. Newly elected Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik has already announced abolishment of the secret fund of provincial departments. It is worth mentioning that a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, is hearing a case regarding the audit of secret fund. The court has been informed that 27 government ministries and public departments had secret funds at their disposal and 19 ministries had refused an audit of this public money.
The audit documents showed that in just three years (2009 to 2012) the previous government had spent around Rs 4 billion in the name of secret funds. The Directorate General Audit of the federal government had informed the Supreme Court in writing that it was not just the Ministry of Information which had secret fund but the ministries of interior, foreign affairs, defence, state and frontier regions, Kashmir affairs, information technology, the Afghan Trade Development Cell, the Maritime Security Agency, Karachi, Pakistan Coast Guards, Pakistan Rangers, Sindh and Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa FC IG, Balochistan FC IG, NAB, ANF, Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission, Federal Tax Ombudsman, Pakistan Railways, Fata Secretariat, National Counter-Terrorism Authority, Motorway Police and some other departments were also given a total of Rs 3,573,869,793 in 2012-13 as secret expenditure.
None of these departments is willing to an audit of these funds that are worth billions of rupees and claimed to have been used in the name of national security. It must be noted that in the Pervez Musharraf regime, the ministries and departments distributed more than Rs 7 billion from the secret funds. The Pakistan People’s Party government raised the allocations by Rs 1 billion. hasnaat malik
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk