Interior ministry tops AGP audit irregularities

According to the AGP report, the ministry accounted for 65 audit paras — the hi­­ghest among all examined entities. It was followed by the Higher Education Com­mis­­sion (31), Trade Development Auth­or­ity of Pakistan (18), Ministry of National Food Security and Research (17), Ministry of Science and Tech­nology (16), National Heritage and Culture Division (12), Pakistan Agricultural Resear­­ch Council (12), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (12), Ministry of National Health Services (11) and Education Division (10). The audit also covered several other ministries and institutions. Observations were raised against the Cabinet Division (two), Commu­nic­ations Division (five), Defence Division (five), Economic Aff­airs Division (two), Information Division (two), Inter-Provincial Coordination Division (eight), Maritime Affairs Division (six), National Accountability Bureau (two), National School of Public Policy (one), Ministry of Plan­ning (one) and Religious Affairs Division (three). The Ministry of Interior, which faced the highest number of audit objections, was cited for a wide range of financial, regulatory and administrative irregularities. Auditors pointed to the non-recovery of Rs22 million in annual renewal fees and penalties related to no-objection certificates issued for armoured vehicles. They also reported the non-recovery of Rs27m in annual renewal fees from private security companies. The report revealed that receipts from 3,421 arms licences amounting to Rs56m were not deposited into the government treasury. Auditors also