NITB Uncovers Irregularities Worth Rs. 2.77 Billion in Wheat Seed Subsidy Program

Data shared by the National Information Technology Board (NITB) has uncovered major irregularities in the wheat seed subsidy program for Rabi 2022-23, amounting to Rs. 2,773.86 million. The anomalies, identified by the Auditor General of Pakistan, stem from targeting and eligibility discrepancies in data verified by the Government of Sindh. Audit findings revealed payments to ineligible beneficiaries, including Rs. 29.55 million disbursed to 1,469 farmers lacking GPS verification of their land and Rs. 2,675 million paid to 115,807 farmers despite only 16,459 verified GPS locations. Further anomalies included Rs. 55.69 million paid to farmers with overlapping household records, Rs. 13.615 million to farmers outside Sindh, and payments to 21 individuals aged 4-17 years as per BISP records. The subsidy program, approved by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on January 25, 2023, tasked the Sindh government with addressing targeting grievances and the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) with managing payments. However, the audit stressed that BISP, as the payment authority, should have performed pre-audit checks, a responsibility the organization denies, citing its limited role in the disbursement process. During a Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting on December 6, 2023, BISP clarified that it was not involved in the development of the Application Programming Interface (API) by NITB for data collection and relied solely on information provided by Sindh authorities. Nonetheless, the audit insisted that BISP was responsible for verifying the data before releasing funds. The DAC directed the Sindh government to rectify the identified anomalies and ensure detailed verification of landholding records. It also called for procedural reforms to prevent such irregularities in future subsidy programs.