LAHORE, May 2: Serious irregularities have been found in the recruitment of employees for the Punjab Cooperative Liquidation Board (PCBL).

According to official documents obtained by Dawn, the chief coordinating officer, Lt-Col Abdul Majeed (retired), appointed by the NAB, Punjab, for the PCBL is illegally using his influence in the recruitment and termination of employees.

In some cases the CCO hired the employees without bringing into the notice of the PCBL, the appointing authority, and without following the procedure. The matter was hushed up when some junior officials objected to it.

The officials were told by the board secretary that the NAB authorities had okayed the appointment keeping in view that “liquidation operation is always an operation of its own kind, unique and swift....... If we are bogged down by procedural formalities which can otherwise be avoided, we shall not achieve targets. Brig (Farooq) Maan (a NAB director) is also of this view.”

The officials were directed to complete all necessary legal formalities in this regard.

On the recommendation of Col Majeed, at least 14 such employees, who were already working in the organization illegally, were issued appointment letters in back dates, in some cases by almost one year, because the army monitoring team has banned new recruitments without its prior approval.

Another interesting aspect is that most of the applications later submitted by the job-seekers were “open” (there was no mention of the post they were applying for) and many of them were addressed to the chief coordinating officer instead of the PCBL chairman, the appointing authority.

One of the applicants wanted job as a “wheelchair bearer” and had addressed his plea to the Children Hospital project director. But, ironically, he was also recommended for appointment in the PCBL. He was not asked to submit his application anew addressed to the authority concerned.

The new appointments, made without any allocation in the annual budget, came at a time when the board was following an ‘economy drive’ to cut down its expenses. Under the drive, 34 employees working at the PCBL head office were axed without issuing any formal notice on April 30. The funds so saved were more of less equal to the salaries recommended for the new appointees who had never been subjected to any test or interview, the standard procedure in government departments.