Sindh PAC Recovers Record Rs33 Billion for Provincial Treasury

Karachi: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly has recovered a record Rs33 billion from various federal and provincial departments and deposited the amount into the provincial treasury, Chairman Nisar Khuhro announced.

According to Khuhro, the recoveries were made between July 2024 and June 2026 as part of the committee’s financial oversight efforts.

During the two-year period, the Sindh PAC held 188 meetings and settled 787 audit paras involving multiple government departments.

Khuhro said the committee recovered Rs11.904 billion collected under the electricity duty from power utilities, while Rs125.34 million in outstanding water charges owed by various federal and provincial institutions to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation was also recovered.

He added that nearly Rs10 billion was recovered directly from different provincial departments, bringing the total recovery to Rs33 billion, all of which has been deposited into the government treasury.

“The PAC will not tolerate embezzlement of taxpayers’ money or financial irregularities,” Khuhro said, adding that the committee is committed to ensuring that public funds are spent for the benefit of the people.

He warned that government departments failing to provide audit records would face action against the responsible officials.

The PAC chairman also directed the provincial government to rationalize staffing in local councils and implement an online salary payment system under the SAP platform across all local councils in Sindh, similar to the system used by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, to enhance transparency.

Khuhro said Sindh remains the only province where local governments have completed three consecutive terms, urging critics of Sindh’s local government system to first hold local government elections in their own provinces.

He noted that the Sindh government allocates Rs156 billion annually to strengthen local governments at the grassroots level.

The PAC also proposed that each of Sindh’s 1,600 union councils allocate Rs300,000 per month from their development funds to purchase solar panels for free distribution to low-income households. According to Khuhro, the initiative could provide solar panels worth approximately Rs480 million every month to deserving families.

Expressing concern over delays in the RBOD-II Project, Khuhro said work on the 273-kilometre drainage project has remained stalled for nearly a decade. Originally launched at an estimated cost of Rs14 billion, the project’s cost has been revised three times to Rs64 billion. Despite around Rs40 billion already being spent, construction has yet to resume.

He urged the Sindh government to appoint consultants and take immediate steps to restart the long-delayed project.