ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to evaluate the current system of granting loans to government employees to ensure transparency, merit and fair play.

The president had raised concerns over the non-observance of criteria as two separate lists, called the “regular list” and the “out of turn list/priority” were being maintained for granting loans.

Mr Alvi observed that there seemed to be no criteria as to when, why and how an employee was to be moved from the “regular list” to the “out of turn” (priority) list. The president has expressed his concerns in a letter sent to the AGP.

An official announcement of the President Secretariat issued on Monday said that this issue had come to light during the hearing of representations, filed by different government officers/organisations, wherein incidents of preferential treatment and violations of merit were reported as loans were extended to some of the government employees in violation of General Financial Rules (GFR) and the approved criteria of Dec 7, 2015.

Mr Alvi had also observed that the Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) of various ministries send lists of employees to AGPR based on their discretion. These out-of-turn loans to employees on priority were causing grievances and litigation.

In 2015, a mechanism was devised by the Finance Division in consultation with AGPR, which envisaged that a revolving fund would be established, and out of the total allocation, 10pc would be earmarked for hardship cases, 25pc for priority list, and 65pc for the general waiting list.

For hardship cases, criteria would be prepared and cases would be decided by a two-member Hardship Committee. It further required that AGPR would ensure transparency and merit in the preparation of these lists that would be displayed on the webpages of AGPR and the Finance Division.

In response to the president’s letter, a special study by the AGP pointed out that loans in hardship cases were being granted without the approval of the committee, and, in violation of the decisions made in 2015 as the Finance Division and AGPR had failed to prepare and finalise any criteria for hardship cases.

It even observed that in some cases, preferential treatment had been meted out to some employees as Fund Availability Certificates (FACs) had been issued to them on the same date of applications. It adds that the mechanism made in 2015 was not being complied with as a priority and general waiting lists were not being displayed on the web pages of AGPR and the Finance Division.

It also pointed out that 38pc expenditure was made for hardship cases instead of 10pc in both House Building Advance (HBA) and Motor Car Advance (MCA) cases. Further, 56pc funds were released to the priority list instead of 25pc in MCA cases.

Similarly, seniority lists were not being followed in HBA and MCA cases. The study further revealed that applications were being processed manually by sub-offices at Lahore, Gilgit and Peshawar instead of through the SAP system of AGPR.

The study recommends that in the presence of hardship provision, there is no need for a separate priority list, and 10pc quota for hardship cases should be strictly followed, and such cases should be processed on the recommendations of the hardship committee as per the mechanism already approved in 2015.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024