According to sources privy to Mr Baig, the powerful secretary of BISP has taken over the affairs of the multi-billion programme asking the junior staff not to engage with the chairman.Sources said the rift between the two top officials has jeopardized the future of 5.5 million families benefiting from Rs70 billion poverty alleviation programme.
This situation has put the entire BISP staff in a dilemma whether to follow the orders of the influential secretary or the chairman who was appointed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Sources said no policy decision had been taken regarding the crucial affairs related to BISP for the last few weeks owing to complete breakdown of communication between the chairman and the secretary.
Sources said the foreign donors were also concerned over the internal crisis in the mega project.BISP is a flagship poverty alleviation programme which is partially funded by the international donors. An amount of Rs70 billion had been allocated for the programme for the financial year 2012-13 to provide cash assistance to 5.5 million families, which constitutes almost 18 percent of the entire population. The programme is aimed at covering almost 40 percent of the population below the poverty line.
The rift started when BISP Secretary Rab Nawaz made a payment of Rs2.6 million to an NGO owned by a US-national without approval of the scrutiny committee just a few days after assuming his post. The company chairman, however, said it was a Pakistani company registered with SECP and it had nothing to do with US. He said the company accomplished its task of conducting spot checking and holding surveys in 66 districts of the country and its work was approved by BISP but the payment of over Rs 220 million was pending since last June 2013 because of ongoing infighting in BISP.
The powerful secretary had also immediately removed an honest internal auditor who had unearthed the corruption of Rs150 million in award of a consultancy contract worth Rs2.63 billion.
The BISP chairman took strict notice of the irregularities and sought explanation from Rab Nawaz. However instead of giving any explanation, Rab Nawaz ordered the entire BISP staff not to engage with the chairman.
When contacted, BISP Chairman Enver Baig confirmed the rift and said he would request the prime minister to intervene for the future of 5.5 million families who are living below the poverty line.
The matter even came to the attention of Parliament where three ruling party MNAs and one legislator of Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM) moved separate calling attention notices. However even the parliamentary notice could not improve the situation in BISP as sources said the secretary is backed by a group of very influential bureaucrats and a powerful cabinet member who are supporting the secretary despite his tainted past.
Sources said the issue had become a test case for the prime minister who would have to decide soon whether to allow Grade-20 bureaucrats to run the affairs of the government or let the politicians control their respective departments and be answerable for their performance.
Sources said the incumbent BISP secretary was removed twice by the PML-N’s Punjab government for dismal performance and negligence.
First he was removed from the post of the Punjab Irrigation and Power Secretary after he was found guilty of negligence during devastating floods of 2010 by a judicial commission constituted by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The commission had not only recommended immediate removal of Rab Nawaz from the post but also asked for inquiry against him after he was found responsible for loss of hundreds of lives and of property worth tens of billions of rupees.
The report of the commission concluded that the officer had failed to meet the monumental challenge of two floods in the River Indus during the 2010 monsoon, causing widespread devastation. But the officer of the powerful District Management Group again managed to get the prize posting in the province as secretary energy. However, he could not satisfy the fast-paced chief minister with his performance in the energy sector and was subsequently removed for failing to initiate any new power project in the province.
Despite repeated calls and messages on his mobile phone for last five days, Rab Nawaz did not respond to The News for his version.However talking to this correspondent earlier this month, the BISP secretary denied committing any irregularity. He said the payment of Rs2.7 million was released on merit. He said the service provider had submitted his bill six months ago but the scrutiny committee never met nor examined his case.
“So I asked the service provider to hold a presentation in the presence of the committee members and when no one objected to the performance of the said service provider, I directed them to release the payment,” he said.
Referring to the transfer of the internal auditor, Rab Nawaz said the officer had completed his five-year tenure so he was transferred. He also claimed that there were certain audit paras against him.
The secretary added that he was asked to work in BISP on the basis of his past experience with poverty reduction programmes in Pakistan and abroad and with foreign funding agencies.When asked about the reports that he was removed twice in Punjab over poor performance, Rab Nawaz denied these reports and said that it was a matter of official record if someone would bother to check. And as far his integrity and repute was concerned, that could easily be verified from anyone in the offices he previously served.
He was asked about the reports that the Flood Enquiry Tribunal had held him responsible for poor management of the flood, he replied that Punjab government had not agreed to the commission’s findings and therefore, no action was initiated against him.
About the institutional issues in BISP, the secretary said that no proper rules had been framed in BISP to define the roles and guide the work of various offices. Once the rules were framed, there would be no issue in proper working of BISP, he said.
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