PAC refers PARC hiring cases to FIA over alleged irregularities

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has referred the case of alleged illegal appointments in the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for further investigation, raising serious questions over hiring practices.

The PAC held its meeting with its Chairman Junaid Akbar Khan in the chair here at the Parliament House on Tuesday and examined the irregularities worth more than Rs8.31 billion of Ministry of Science and Technology’s for the financial year 2022-23 and 2023-24. The PAC has directed a special audit of the power plants sold so far.

The Auditor General of Pakistan informed the committee that the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had not submitted itself for audit. He added that seven to eight government bodies are currently refusing audits. The PAC decided to summon the heads of all institutions that have failed to comply with audit of their accounts through department of the Auditor General of Pakistan as per constitutional requirements.

While taking up the issue of the hiring of 332 persons instead of 164 on vacancies by the PARC, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) Chairman Dr. Ghulam Ali appeared before the committee to address concerns raised in an audit report. According to audit officials, while PARC had advertised 164 vacancies, while 332 individuals were posted -- more than double the advertised positions.