PESHAWAR: National Accountability Bureau (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Director General Shahzad Saleem has asked the officials to discourage corruption and illegal practices and pinpoint loopholes in public procurement system to ensure fair dealings.

He was addressing a oneday workshop on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Procurement of Goods, Works and Services Rules, 2014 at NAB office here on Thursday. Senior officials of government departments dealing with procurement in their departments attended the workshop.

`It is a matter of great concern for us that outsiders are pinpointing loopholes in our public procurement system. This is our country, our motherland and we must be the initiators to make our house in order instead of waiting for others,` Mr Saleem said.

He said that NAB`s mandate was not only to arrest accused persons but also to educate them for avoiding arrest and loss to government exchequer. The credit, he said, went to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for establishing Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and notifying new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Goods, Works and Services Rules, 2014.

The NAB director general said hoped that if the law was implemented in letter and spirit it would help to bring transparency in the public procurement system. He said that various complaints were received to NAB vis-à-vis violation of procurement rules and a need was felt to arrange a workshop to educate the officers on procurement procedure.

`It has been observed that procurement rules were mostly violated owing to lack of proper knowledge and expertise about procurement rules and procedure,` Mr Saleem said.

He also informed the participants about malpractices committed by authorities during procurement process.

On the occasion, NAB expert on procurement related issue delivered a detailed presentation on new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PPRA Rules, 2014. The presentation was followed by questions/answers session.

A NAB spokesman said that trainees from various departments of government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would act as master trainers in their respective departments to train and educate other officials and subordinate tiers to ensure transparency at all levels.