Bureaucrats want media out while PAC meets
ISLAMABAD: Accusing the media of being irresponsible, the top bureaucracy on Monday proposed in-camera meetings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to keep it out of its proceedings.
The bureaucracy complained a lot about the presence of the media in the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee as it met here with the Opposition Leader and Chairman committee Syed Khursheed Shah in the chair.
The in-house meeting of the committee was attended by the Principal Accounting Officers (federal secretaries) of all the ministries.Two in-house meetings were held on Monday, one with the Department of Auditor General of Pakistan and another with all the principal accounting officers.
Registrar Supreme Court skipped the meeting despite that the committee had sent him a notice to attend the meeting.According to sources, during the meeting top bureaucrats complained that the running of tickers on TV screens brought them embarrassment and demanded that restricted be placed on the tickers.
They complained that the media not only gave wrong figures but also mentioned millions into billions on the audit paras.The sources said the top bureaucrats also complained that the running of tickers during the committee proceedings pressured the ministries and divisions to take action against the accused (for malpractices) thus hindering an independent inquiry.
Surprisingly, the PAC Secretariat also supported the bureaucrats and proposed that the media should be given a briefing at the end of the meeting.Talking to media persons in his chamber after chairing the committee meeting, Syed Khursheed Shah requested the media not to run tickers during the committee proceedings.
The media told him that the bureaucracy wanted to stop them from highlighting the corruption cases highlighted in the reports of the Auditor General of Pakistan.Meanwhile, during the committee it was disclosed that 16 institutions getting funds from the government were still refusing audit through the Auditor general of Pakistan.
Khursheed Shah remarked that the Constitution had clearly stated that any institution which got even a penny from the government funds was accountable to the PAC and was bound to get its budget audited through the department of the Auditor General of Pakistan.
When Khursheed Shah was told that the PAC had so far recovered Rs132 billion, he remarked that third party validation be made to ascertain if the amount had been deposited into the state kitty or settled in the audit paras. He made it clear that the PAC will ensure across-the-board accountability.
He also told the federal secretaries that their presence in the PAC meetings was a must and absence of any federal secretary will not be tolerated.He also directed them to attend the committee meetings fully prepared after holding the Departmental Accounting Committee meetings.
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