{"id":7782,"date":"2025-08-05T04:21:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/08\/05\/health-ministry-audit-irregularities\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T04:49:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:49:20","slug":"health-ministry-audit-irregularities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/08\/05\/health-ministry-audit-irregularities\/","title":{"rendered":"Over Rs. 6 Billion in Irregularities Found in Pakistan’s Health Ministry Audit Amid Lack of Accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Massive Financial Irregularities Surface in Health Ministry Audit: Over Rs. 6 Billion in Unresolved Paras and Lax Accountability<\/strong>
\n
\nNadeem Tanoli<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Islamabad:\u00a0<\/strong>A detailed reply tabled in the National Assembly has unveiled alarming audit findings against the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C), exposing a pattern of financial mismanagement, unauthorized expenditures, and unresolved audit paras amounting to more than Rs. 6 billion over the past three years. The revelations follow a parliamentary question by MNA Sher Afzal Khan, seeking clarification on audit findings and actions taken against negligent officials.<\/p>\n

The ministry\u2019s response\u2014supported by a comprehensive .shows that the Audit and Inspection Report for the fiscal year 2024\u201325 has not even been initiated by the Directorate General of Audit. However, the audit for FY 2023\u201324 alone reveals 11 serious paras, ranging from the non-utilization of Rs. 4.03 billion in developmental funds to irregular procurements and payments, unauthorized vehicle use, and questionable financial decisions taken at the end of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Among the most damning findings is the non-utilization and surrender of Rs. 4.028 billion in development funds, as well as a Rs. 1.77 billion reappropriation of funds to attached departments at the fiscal year’s end\u2014an act typically criticized as budget manipulation. Other significant irregularities include Rs. 71.7 million in questionable payments to Novartis Pharma, and Rs. 42.3 million spent on irregular procurement of computer stationery and other items.<\/p>\n

Despite the gravity of these findings, no meaningful disciplinary action has yet been taken, as nearly every para from FY 2023\u201324 is marked \u201cresponse awaited\u201d from the Director General (Audit), with the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting still pending. This reflects not only negligence within the ministry but also a dismal lack of urgency in addressing financial impropriety.<\/p>\n

The audit paras for FY 2022\u201323 are no less revealing. The reports highlight a Rs. 216.8 million unaccounted stock of contraceptive items, delayed project executions causing escalated costs, and non-recovery of Rs. 22.3 million in unutilized funds from the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD). Cases of irregular honoraria payments, unauthorized use of vehicles, and non-verification of store stocks also feature prominently.<\/p>\n

In several instances, DAC recommended conditional settlements, such as subject to tax certificate verification or audit confirmation of records. Yet, many paras still \u201cstand,\u201d meaning the irregularities remain unresolved. Notably, a case concerning unauthorized retention of two government vehicles continues to appear across multiple years\u2014suggesting that previous directions for recovery or settlement were never implemented.<\/p>\n

The absence of accountability has sparked concerns among lawmakers and governance observers. Critics argue that such blatant financial disorder in a critical ministry not only reflects poor internal controls but also undermines public trust, especially in a sector responsible for national health policy and funding.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Peak Point E-Paper \u2013 Peak Point<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Massive Financial Irregularities Surface in Health Ministry Audit: Over Rs. 6 Billion in Unresolved Paras and Lax Accountability Nadeem Tanoli Islamabad:\u00a0A detailed reply tabled in the National Assembly has unveiled alarming audit findings against the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C), exposing a pattern of financial mismanagement, unauthorized expenditures, and unresolved audit …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1943,1945,1942,1946,1941,1944,544,1220,1947,1948],"class_list":["post-7782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-education","tag-auditreport","tag-budgetirregularities","tag-financialmismanagement","tag-governmentoversight","tag-healthministryaudit","tag-nhsrc","tag-pakistangovernance","tag-publicaccountability","tag-publicfunds","tag-transparencyinhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7782"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7789,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7782\/revisions\/7789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}