Quetta, Nov 3 — The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly has strongly criticised the provincial Health Department for its failure to address long standing audit objections over massive corruption, illegal procurements, and the disappearance of medicines from Quetta’s Sandeman Provincial Hospital, Dawn reported.
The committee, chaired by Asghar Ali Tareen, reviewed a special audit of Sandeman Provincial Hospital and related audit paras concerning the Health Department. The audit revealed alarming financial irregularities, including illegal medicine purchases worth PKR 30.02 million, missing drugs valued at PKR 22.83 million, and inflated oxygen cylinder prices that cost the provincial treasury PKR 1.34 million.
Between 2017 and 2022, medicines worth over PKR 30 million were reportedly procured under suspicious circumstances. In several instances, one company received supply orders while another was paid for the deliveries. The absence of inspection reports and stock registers pointed to severe lapses in oversight.
Although the department claimed that distributor Health Tech Quetta, working for Frontier Dactrol Ltd, Peshawar, handled both supply and payment, the PAC found the justification unsatisfactory. Chairman Tareen expressed frustration that no progress had been made eight months after directives were issued, warning that non-compliant officials could face suspension and criminal action.
Committee members Safia Bibi and Haji Wali Muhammad Noorzai condemned repeated violations of the Balochistan Public Procurement Rules and urged strict disciplinary measures.
The audit also uncovered the disappearance of medicines worth PKR 22.83 million from Civil Hospital Quetta during 2019–20. Officials attributed the missing records to a pharmacist’s illness a claim dismissed by the PAC. Moreover, oxygen cylinders purchased during the pandemic were billed at PKR 40,000 per unit, compared to the approved rate of just PKR 537.
Investigators further noted that supplier quotations bore identical handwriting, suggesting collusion among vendors. The PAC has now given the Health Department one final week to produce all audit records or face a referral to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for a full-scale corruption probe.