ISLAMABAD: In an interesting development, the government Gilgit Baltistan, has unearthed over 300 bank accounts which were dormant or inactive for years containing over Rs 1 billion.
Officially disclosed details have said that a team of the Finance Department of GB discovered that more than 600 accounts holding public money were not registered amongst the official public accounts.
The Finance Department decided to seek the help of the State Bank of Pakistan in identifying the owners of these unregistered accounts. The State Bank of Pakistan, being the central bank of the country, was able to provide the necessary support in identifying the owners of these accounts. It was discovered that more than 300 accounts were dormant and had been inactive for over two years.
Upon further investigation, it was revealed that these accounts held more than a billion rupees in public funds. Some of the accounts were as old as 1984, and it was evident that no one had been keeping track of them for decades. The Finance Department realized that such a large amount of public funds should not be left unaccounted for, and decided to take immediate action.
Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani , recognizing the importance of public funds, had directed the Secretary of Finance to coordinate with the State Bank of Pakistan to close these unauthorized accounts and retrieve the funds. The money is to be returned to the GB Consolidated Fund, which would ensure that the funds are utilized for public good.
As per official sources, the Finance Department was successful in closing these unauthorized accounts and retrieving the public funds. The funds were now available for use in public projects such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and other public services that would benefit the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.
This incident was a stark reminder that public funds must be handled with utmost care and accountability. It was a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of transparency and accountability in public finances.
It ought to be mentioned here that the mountainous region receives a limited grant for the annual development and non-development expenditure by the government. Keeping that limited fund unutilized was a gross negligence on the part of the relevant departments.
Great job 👍
This should have been before, so that the unclaimed money should have been utilized by the GB Government for public welfare