80m afs of martyrs, disables went to undeserving people

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Pajhwok Afghan News findings show that stipends amounting to 80 million afghanis annually of families of martyrs, disabled persons and laborers were paid to undeserving people.

The documents and evidence obtained by Pajhwok show that undeserving persons have been receiving regular fixed amount of money from 2001 to 2021.

According to documents, these undeserving individuals were disqualified as a result of a scrutiny of their documents in all provinces in the last days of the republic through a special resolution passed by former President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

Naqibullah Zaland, former director of the Martyrs and Disabled Affairs in Khost, told Pajhwok that the documents of only 3,000 people out of 7500 cases have been scrutinized.

He said their investigation revealed that 80 million afghanis in stipends went to undeserving people.

Zaland said the number of undeserving people might be even higher as there were 4,500 cases of civilian martyrs alone and the disabled also needed to be investigated.

According to him, all these cases have been filed before his appointment at the department.

He added: "A committee was set up to look into documents that contain forged or falsified documents and to disqualify persons who have received privileges in the name of disabled and the heirs of martyrs; to my knowledge, their salaries have been suspended and cases declared invalid.”

Former Khost provincial council chairman KafilRehan also acknowledged that in the past, undeserving individuals received rights of the people with disabilities and the heirs of martyrs’ families.

He said all government and non-government individuals who illegally took the money from the government treasury should be severely punished.

He added: "Anyone who has received a salary in the name of disabled persons should be referred to the attorney general office and the money should be taken back from them and given to the deserving people."

Talib Mangal, a former spokesman for the governor's office in Khost, also acknowledged that there were some problems with the Martyrs and Disabled, which had been resolved by a joint committee directed by former president Ashraf Ghani and the files were being investigated.

He added they wanted to give rights to all those who were entitled and remove those who had problems with documents and were not entitled to salaries.

On the other hand, Shabir Ahmad Usmani, director of information and culture in Khost, told Pajhwok the officials of the martyrs and disabled department had started traveling to different parts of the province to meet the families of martyrs and disabled.

He said the government was reviewing the lists of martyrs and disabled people of the previous government and there were people who did not have any disability but were included in the list.

Usmani said the process had been completed in several districts and the true heirs and martyrs of disabled had been identified and the process had started in the capital and would be extended to other districts in the future.

"After a careful scrutiny, all the aggregate data on how many people with real disabilities are there and how many are imaginary or recommended, God willing, will be known," he said.

Shabbir Ahmad Usmani said when all the data became known, they would share the lists with the media and the Ministry of Disabled Affairs.