The National Accountability Bureau raided two offices of the National Testing Service in Islamabad on Monday and arrested its CEO Air Commodore (retd) Dr Sherzada Khan and four other employees. According to a report, a NAB team, along with Federal Board of Revenue officials, also seized several documents after examining records at the two offices. Besides Dr Sherzada, four other NTS employees including the administration in-charge were arrested in the raids.
NAB chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had ordered an inquiry into NTS – an entity that conducts tests for induction into the government sector – on account of alleged embezzlement and question papers being leaked before the testing dates for monetary gains. The decision was made after the anti-corruption watchdog received a number of complaints from candidates ranging from papers being compromised before the tests, procedural irregularities in the hiring process, and other corrupt practices in the NTS. A day later, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also constituted a five-member inquiry committee to investigate allegations of irregularities in the entry test for medical colleges and universities’ conducted on October 22 through the NTS following widespread protests by candidates in the province. Although, NTS has become a major testing authority over the last few years, there are more and more questions being raised in the parliament about its roles and legal position. A recent report of the auditor general of Pakistan revealed that NTS officials and related departments were not in the favour of a verification process. It is speculated that the unwillingness stems from the financial irregularities that might be uncovered. The first ever NTS audit was conducted by the AGP in October 2016, in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission and it was conducted on the directives of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Board of Directors, which look after the service. The auditor found that NTS is functioning in lieu of proper rules, policies, corporate strategies or even organised objectives, which lead to financial discrepancies that come to millions of rupees. The audit also brought to light the internal NTS mechanisms. However, it should be noted that the NTS management has always resisted having an audit conducted. The raid on NTS by NAB is a good step because complaints against this organization were not new and such step was a need of the hour. In the past important recruitments were made on the basis of NTS tests and also admissions to key educational institutions were given on the basis of the tests that were conducted under this organization. We hope that inquiry will be completed in a transparent manner and if the allegations stand correct then stern action will be ensured against it for playing the future of country.
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