RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Director General Health Services Dr Munir Ahmed has said that provincial TB Control Programme does not directly spent 90 percent of the funds provided by Global Fund and National TB Control Programme (NTP).

He said that Global Funds and NTP directly provide medicines, gene-export machines, laboratory equipment, vehicles and other requirements every year to all Provincial TB Programmes. Similarly, provincial governments are only authorized to utilize salary of project employees and training expenditures and these staff are directly recruited by the representative of Global Funds and National TB Programme, he added.

He said that Global Fund and NTP every year conducts audit of these funds and audit paragraph in government department as a routine matter.

Dr Munir Ahmed further said that National TB Control Programme audit team has cleared audit paragraphs, after the complete examination. In this regard, the federal government’s issued a letter in which they mentioned that any financial embezzlement and corruption is not proven. He further explained that all the vehicles of the TB control program are under use of the department either in head office or in field assignments. Similarly, all the procurements and contracts of the TB control program have been done in compliance of the PEPRA Rules.

Dr Munir Ahmed said TB control programme has neither made any kind of corruption and nor financial discrepancies. He said that a few months ago some employees of this project had been dismissed on account of black mailing, miss conduct and harassment of women and now these employees are involved in propaganda against the department.