PAC Body Pends Info Ministry's Audit Report

PAC body pends Info Ministry's audit report

The subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday pended the entire audit report of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting till next meeting with the directive for holding the meeting of fresh departmental accounts committee (DAC) in 30 days

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Nov, 2019 ) :The subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday pended the entire audit report of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting till next meeting with the directive for holding the meeting of fresh departmental accounts committee (DAC) in 30 days.

Chairing the committee meeting, convener Shahida Akhtar Ali observed that the last departmental accounts committee meeting was held in 2017.

Federal Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Zahida Parveen regretted for not holding of the DAC meetings, which was the responsibility of her predecessors. She, however, after assuming the office took corrective measures, she added.

As regards the annual budget of Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation (APPC) and its performance, she told the committee that the news agency's annual budget was Rs 1 billion.

A lot of efforts were underway for its betterment. Agreements were being signed with foreign news agencies to enhance the outreach of APPC, she added.

The committee, however, directed the secretary to give a detailed briefing on APPC's performance in its next meeting.

Earlier, the audit officials presenting the ministry's audit report of 2013-14, claimed that they were not provided the record of spending of Rs 101.42 million secret fund.

The secretary information, however, informed the committee that the secret fund was not auditable. On the Supreme Court's directions, the ministry's secret fund had been abolished, she added.

The total budget of the ministry of Rs 8 billion was auditable, she said.