The director general audit has started a review of various departments as it is a legal and constitutional requirement. The Director General Audit has written letters to various departments ordering them to provide the information. In case of non-provision of the said documents or non-cooperation with the audit teams, disciplinary action may be taken, the DG warned.
The annual audit of funds, expenditures, receipts, remittances, stocks etc, in the year 2021-22 was scheduled with effect from October 17 2022. After the audit is complete, these reports will be presented to the Punjab Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and then action may be taken against the officers involved in malpractices.
The audit office has also written a similar letter to the Irrigation Department asking for certain information to be verified. Sources told this newspaper that complaints of corruption in various departments have surfaced including the Irrigation Department.
According to the official documents, information has been sought from the canal department because it has a huge development budget, field formations, engineers, government offices, lands and rest houses. The government lands owned by the department are encroached upon, POL of vehicles is misused, and canal water is stolen on a large scale. Apart from this, the Auditor General has asked for tender information because major projects are under execution in the department.
Sources said that some time ago, the department had bought big vehicles for its field officers, and the then secretary; Captain Retired Saif Anjum had laid down criteria for their allotment to officers. Sources further revealed that the officers who were sidelined by the former Irrigation secretary Anjum were posted against key positions by Shahryar Sultan. He later became the Punjab Additional Chief Secretary. During the investigations, the honest and dutiful officers have been sidelined.
Sources have also said that the department has approved a sum of five billion rupees to compensate for the damage caused by the recent floods. It is also found that the then Secretary sanctioned funds without prior third-party estimation. The incumbent secretary Manzoor Nasir is trying his best to fill the gap that was created after the departure of Saif Anjum. It is also learnt that a group of officers has succeeded in getting its officers posted against key posts on even the Additional Secretary level.
It is also learnt that the irrigation department had started working on the e-abiyana system and even e-procurement to ensure transparency in contract awarding. The government has also approved Punjab Water Act 2019 to ensure water management. However, it could not be implemented for certain reasons. Former minister of Irrigation Mohsin Leghari had disclosed that 27,000 cases were reported on water theft, 2,600 FIRs were registered and around 1,000 people were arrested. It also surfaced that the department could not fully succeed to convict the water thieves or recovering fines.
