Goofing up

Most of the moves initiated by the movers and shakers of the Punjab government against the previous set-up backfired one after the other in recent times. The bungling we see in their conduct not only exposes the rulers, their political class and administrative skills as leaders but also prod the people to ask the more pertinent question as to 'what is wrong with the Punjab government these days' which is not a good compliment for the Chief Minister and team surrounding him. But how the top functionaries of the Punjab government goofed up the Nazims issue has no parallel in the recent history. It seems to be a monumental misstep, probably, too much to suit to public genius. The Punjab government declared with all the pomp and show the District Nazims a corrupt breed of the highest order, embezzling some Rs. 94 billion. But all the allegations or claims, accompanied with a huge hullabaloo were based on audit objections, as it turned out to be in the end.
The situation took an interesting turn when Auditor General in response to a few queries from Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer poured cold water on the fuss kicked up by the Punjab government. The AG made it clear that his office never found any embezzlement nor the Punjab government followed the prescribed procedure to establish the corrupt practices of anybody. The AG also made further clear that it is DCO and not Nazims who are the Drawing and Disbursing officer, thereby giving clean chit to the Nazims. In the final analysis, cutting the long story short, the case built by the Punjab government was merely based upon audit objections. One cannot take any position against some one on the basis of merely audit objections.
What are the audit objections? They are irregularities committed by the officials in performing their duties. To be more precise, they are violations of rules and regulation often committed by the officials, which can also be corrected once they are raised by the AG. For example if the sanitary workers are paid their salaries without the endorsement of the elected house, it will amount to an irregularity. The AG will be bound to take notice of it, until and unless that endorsement is obtained subsequently. A scheme passed without furnishing a technical estimate could again invite the attention of the Auditors. The objection made by the AG could be cleared once that estimate is secured by the person who committed that irregularity in the first place.