Rawalpindi March 19 (TNS): A mega corruption scam has been surfaced in Punjab’s annual development funds, TNS has learnt.
Reliable sources told TNS that corruption of millions of rupees unearthed in Rawalpindi Communication and Works Department where officers and other staff including top officials, SDOs, and Executive Engineers possessed assets beyond their income, unknown-properties and luxury lifestyle.
Funds for bogus daily wages employees are being looted as the department delivers cash salaries to hundreds of daily wages employees every month who do not exist.
A group receives salaries of these bogus daily wages employees, sources added.
On other hand, 50 employees of C&W who are present on duty cannot get the salary for last three months.
From planning to implementation, Communication and Works Department of Punjab is responsible to provide funds for development projects including roads, bridges and buildings across the province and a large amount of annual development funds transferred in accounts of corrupt officials which cause loss of billions of rupees to national exchequer.
The explicit example of mega corruption is a tender to be opened on March 27 but had been rewarded to blue-eyed contractors and the project has been completed even before the tender was opened.
According to the PPPRA rules any development project cannot be executed or be completed bypassing legal procedures.
Talking to TNS, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Finance) Rao Arif said that development projects being completed without tenders are illegal.
Sources say that the Communication and Works Department grants tenders of development projects to blue-eyed contractors every year which causes unstoppable circle of corruption.
Despite the use of poor material in the construction work, the department issued quality certificates to contractors which causes national kitty a damage of billions of rupees each year.
TNS tired to contact C&W officials to know their point of view on assets beyond their income but found them absent from their offices.
Sources told TNS on condition of anonymity that children of most of the top officials are getting education in foreign educational institutions, while most of the luxury vehicles used by the officers are gifted by the contractors.
