Zakat Collection Controlling Agencies Refuse Audit Despite PAC Order

A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was held under the chairmanship of Member of National Assembly (MNA) Noor Alam Khan in Islamabad on Wednesday. The committee discussed the matter of audit of various institutions and was informed that the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC), College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), and Zakat Collection Controlling Agencies have outright refused to be audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan. Chairman PAC sought an explanation from these institutions for refusing the audit despite the prime minister’s recent orders for a full audit of all institutions. Secretary Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) Muhammad Fakhre Alam informed the committee that the College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan is a private regulatory institution that does not receive any funding from the government. He added that the Lahore High Court had also ruled in favor of the institution. Irked by the secretary’s response, the committee chairman said that the LHC ruling should be challenged. The health secretary responded the institution is working on establishing a new nursing council that won’t refuse the audit. After further deliberations, the members sought records of the institution to be presented before the committee at the earliest.