Bibi Pak Daman Shrine- Gold Mine for Corrupt Mafia
In the absence of any action against corruption cartel in Punjab Auqaf and Religious Department, the department is losing millions in more than 80 shrines all over the province. There has not been any action in this regard despite it being common knowledge.
According to sources, the shrines are a source of million rupees to the treasury, but without any stringent measure, 80 percent of the money goes into the pockets of the officials, with 20 percent going in the office records.
Misappropriation of donations collected through cash boxes placed at shrines and mosques and irregularities and nepotism in award of contracts are major issues facing the organisation.
Every time a cash box at a shrine is opened, a team from the head office goes to the occasion for the supervision. In the presence of the team, any extra cash – if it is more than last year’s book—is stolen and distributed among the respective people.
Notably, a major portion of the Auqaf land has been occupied by the powerful mafia in connivance with department officials, and the state is not interested in retrieving it.
In a similar incident, 3 Crores were allocated earlier and 15 released later for the expansion and renovation of Bibi Pak Daman shrine in Lahore. The mega project was started in October 2018 after the approval of Punjab and federal government.
However, care taker Nayyer Dada and the Auqaf Department for vested interests teamed up to stop the work of expansion and decided to stay within the existing 2-kanals to window-dress the situation rather than actually solving the problem.
It is pertinent to mention here that the existing limited area is inadequate to provide any facilities to visitors.
There is intense congestion due to huge influx of devotees which not only causes injury and suffocation but also enables criminal activities.
Unfortunately, the expansion and renovation of shrine was encumbered by the authorities for their vested interests. Sources revealed that officials have sabotaged PC-1 of a mega project by firm Arcadia by Syed Hassan Raza for the expansion of the shrine which has been passed since 2013.
Earlier in March this year, the Lahore division commissioner and the capital city police officer (CCPO) jointly visited the shrine of Bibi Pakdaman and reviewed the proposed expansion project of the shrine.
The DIG Operations, deputy Commissioner and officers of Auqaf Department were also present. The Auqaf Department officers briefed the commissioner and the CCPO on the expansion plan according to the decision of a judicial commission.
Meanwhile, at a meeting held at the Auqaf Department office, the commissioner and the CCPO decided to take the scholars of all schools of thought into confidence. CCPO Zulfiqar Hameed suggested that final decision should be taken after taking the elders of the area into loop. He said that the opinion of the architects and experts of C&W Department would also have to be taken into account.
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