Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, chairman of the Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has ordered a special three-year financial audit of all 246 union committees (UCs) in Karachi amid growing concerns over the utilisation of public funds and road-cutting charges amounting to billions of rupees.
Khuhro directed the audit director general to initiate the special financial audit following a letter submitted by Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab requesting scrutiny of all the UCs in the city.
The PAC chairman also sought the complete details of the utilisation of the monthly OZT funds, expenditures, employee-related payments and pension disbursements by all the Karachi UCs. He also demanded records from all town administrations concerning road-cutting charges collected over the years.
According to him, the provincial government is providing Rs1.2 million in monthly OZT funds to each UC, amounting to Rs295.2 million every month for Karachi’s 246 UCs.
He asked where and how these public funds are being spent, saying that there is little transparency regarding the utilisation of the grants provided by the provincial government.
He said the special financial audit would help determine where the UC funds are being spent and under which heads of expenditure. He maintained that the Sindh government is allocating these funds for public welfare at the grassroots level, and that the taxpayers’ money must ultimately benefit the people.
He warned that strict action would be taken if financial irregularities or misuse of funds meant for public welfare are found during the audit process. He said financial auditing of UCs would improve governance and performance at the local level.
Referring to road-cutting charges, he said Karachi’s town administrations have collected billions of rupees under this head and must explain where the money has been spent.
He directed the audit DG and the local government department to obtain the complete details of road-cutting charges from all Karachi towns and submit a comprehensive report.
