Islamabad, Mar 12, 2025: A grant of $3 million, originally allocated for Pakistan’s 2022 flood victims, was instead redirected to aid earthquake survivors in Turkiye and Syria, as disclosed in a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session.
This revelation surfaced during an audit review led by PAC Chairman Junaid Akbar Khan, scrutinizing financial reports of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Communications for fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The government repurposed Rs. 552.599 million in Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding, originally meant for purchasing relief materials for Pakistan’s flood victims, for rehabilitation efforts in the earthquake-hit regions.
Officials explicitly designated the initial grant agreement, signed on September 16, 2022, for emergency flood relief within Pakistan.
NDMA utilized these funds to procure winterized tents and blankets during the 2022-23 fiscal year, purportedly for flood-affected communities.
However, auditors discovered that the authorities had instead sent these supplies to Turkiye and Syria, violating the agreement’s terms and depriving Pakistani flood victims of critical aid.
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The audit report emphasized that the funds strictly aimed to provide life-saving assistance to those impacted by Pakistan’s devastating monsoon floods, and it deemed their diversion unjustifiable.
When confronted, NDMA representatives justified the decision by citing the “urgent timeline of the relief operation directed by the prime minister” following the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria.
Officials assured the committee that they had replenished and restocked the relief items for their original intended purpose.
During a Departmental Accounts Committee session on February 26, 2025, NDMA officials defended their actions, stating that they had dispatched the relief supplies as per the Prime Minister’s orders and that “no unauthorized distribution of flood relief supplies” had occurred.
The PAC has demanded a detailed report on the matter within a month to address concerns regarding the misallocation of humanitarian aid.
