More than a month after an important financial scandal that involved RS1.94 billion in the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the Administration has begun to implement key reforms to restore financial discipline. As an initial step, the implementation of an irregular promotion has been arrested and a revised framework for the financial authority has been introduced. According to the new structure, the Director Finance and the Deputy Director Finance have been jointly authorized to approve financial transactions to RS0.5 million. According to the sources, these reforms are in response to the ongoing investigations of the National Office of Responsibility (NAB), the Punjab Anti -Corruption Establishment and an investigation committee established by the main secretary. The scandal involved the unauthorized transfer of RS1.94 billion in public funds to several companies and individuals through the call deposit receipts (CDRS). In the first phase of the corrective actions, the promotion of the Building Inspector Nadeem Jamal has been suspended. Initially working in the Engineering Department, Jamal was promoted from grade 11 to the Superintendent of Buildings (Grade 16) and subsequently to the director’s assistant engineering (Grade 17). However, a new directive has now stopped the implementation of its most recent promotion, waiting for the final decision of the Committee. At the same time, there has been a significant reorganization within the Finance Department. Sohaib Ahmed Qazi, formerly Director Finance, has been appointed Deputy Director of State Management while continuing with additional finance and administration director. Meanwhile, Masood Arshad, former Deputy Director of State Management, has been reassigned as Deputy Director Finance Finance. According to the new administration, both officials will sign all checks up to RS0.5 million and jointly administer the bank account used for salaries, pensions, public service invoices and other RUDA routine expenses. It is worth noting that a double signature system for more value controls was already in place, which requested signatures of both the director general and the director of finance for amounts greater than RS0.5 million. However, the years of weak supervision and poor monitoring allowed the manipulation of the CDR mechanism, which finally led to the embezzlement of mass funds. The investigations suggest that the CDR -based system remained without control for almost a decade, which allowed a general misuse of public funds. The NAB probes scam On the other hand, the National Responsibility Office (NAB) has begun to convene GDR officers both in service and GDR in relation to the alleged embezzlement of funds in the government funds. All former administration and finance directors who served in the last decade are being called in phases, with citations already issued. Separately, the Research Committee established by the main secretary of Punjab is scheduled to hold its second session on Wednesday (today) in LaHore to investigate the matter more thoroughly. On Monday, several key officials, including the director of the RDA, Land Malik Ghazanfar, who has been director of administration and finance at RDA, the assistant director Finance Waqar Asghar Raja, the retired deputy director Khawaja Arshad Javed, and other officials of the Finance Directorate, appeared before NAB, Rawalpindi.
