Moalims

PESHAWAR:
The education budget for DI Khan was passed on to the Communication and Works (C&W) department during the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
The district education officer shared this information when the Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA) requested the education department for details on the utilisation of the development budget. This came to the fore when the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 was tapped by a member of CGPA, Irum Azmat.
A question unanswered
According to the letter of the CGPA, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, Azmat submitted an application on June 18 under K-P RTI Act 2013. She had requested the public information officer at the DI Khan district education office (DEO) to provide data on the allocation and utilisation of the development budget during FY 2014-15.
However, in response, the authorities told her the education budget allocated under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) was instead used by Communication and Works (C&W) department. The governance watchdog was asked to contact C&W for the exact figures.
In the letter to the DEO, Azmat had asked for the allocation made under the provincial ADP for the education office in DI Khan for 2014-15, allocations made under the district ADP to DI Khan DEO, the total amount utilised and the amount left unused.
The RTI request also mentioned that the RTI law was meant to ensure the free flow of information. It added that according to a section of K-P RTI Act 2013, public bodies are bound to provide the requested information within a period of at most 20 days.
However, in response to the request, the DI Khan DEO sent a letter to CGPA, a copy of which is also available with The Express Tribune

News reference: http://tribune.com.pk/story/919604/passing-the-buck-education-budget-used-for-construction-in-di-khan/