KARACHI: Recent transfers amount to pre-poll rigging
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, July 23: Transfers and postings on a large scale soon after the promotion of K.B. Rind to the office of Sindh chief secretary has given a jolt to the administrative machinery in Sindh and are being construed as a measure to benefit pro-government candidates in the October election.
This exercise, were it not an election year, could have been overlooked and taken to be a normal practice of assigning jobs to officials known to be close to the head of the executive arm of the government. But as the exercise began from the districts where authorities failed to get results in the presidential referendum, the transfers and postings have become tainted amounting to a pre-poll rigging measure.
The post of the chief secretary is normally an officer of BPS Grade 22 and the assignment tenure is three years. But owing to political favours this job in the past had also been assigned to officials in Grade 21 as in the case of Mr Rind, who was promoted only last year to this grade. He superseded his colleagues, including Additional Chief Secretary( Development) Shazado Shaikh, who is much senior to Mr Rind in the grade but could not make it for want of political clout and lobby in the right quarters.
The opposition circles in their outburst against the government had gone to the extent of attributing the transfer of Muhammad Javed Ashraf from the chief secretaryship as his victimization owing to his refusal to go beyond rules. Its outcome was that Sindh had emerged as the province where oversmartness of some officers resulted in tainting the entire referendum exercise.
A special cell, which was assigned the task of analyzing the situation brewing in the interior and suggesting remedy, it is learnt, came out with the old solution to replace officials in “sensitive districts” — dominated by PPP — by those having a record of delivering to authorities.
The rulers in Islamabad were already on the lookout for a suitable candidate for posting as chief secretary as the incumbent Mr Ashraf had fallen from grace after differences with authorities for writing an unfavourable ACR for one of his secretaries having moorings in the present ruling elite. Besides, he also had lost his utility owing to his nature. In the person of K.B. Rind, who was director general of Ports and Shipping at Karachi, Islamabad found a right person for the right job as he has to his credit a record of serving Sindh in different capacities, including the sensitive assignments of home secretary.
Mr Rind hails from the Nawabshah district where two groups led by Shahs and Jatois had been traditional rivals whether it is politics or administration. As such, in matters of promotion, postings and transfers, the patronage of the group in power counts a lot. In the given situation the Shah group is led by Syed Zafar Ali Shah of the PPP, which is opposed to the government.
However, the Jatoi group being soft towards the present setups at the centre and in the province, therefore, is considered to be closer to the government and according to informed sources, Mr Rind is the nominee of this group.
This group is led by a former caretaker prime minister and chief of the National People’s Party, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, and his son, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, is considered one of the architects of the Sindh Democratic Alliance with its chief, Imtiaz Shaikh.
Surprisingly, the summary for his posting was approved in the last week of June but its implementation was delayed for technical reasons which were overcome with the indulgence of his powerful lobbies.
Another coincidence was his assuming office with the induction of five new ministers after relieving Education Minister Anita Ghulam Ali and Irrigation Minister Syed Ali Mir Shah.
With the expansion of the cabinet some stories were also floated by interested quarters that the induction of three ministers of the newly-formed electoral alliance into the provincial cabinet was an indication of the future scenario in Sindh, where all postings and transfers, particularly in PPP strongholds, would be on the recommendations of the SDA chief, Imtiaz Shaikh.
Since the assumption of the office of chief secretary by Mr Rind, scores of officials have been transferred, including five DCOs, in districts of Hyderabad, Larkana, Khairpur, Dadu and Badin. Some more transfers are on the cards. They all were posted with the consent of the Nazimeen of the respective district governments. But, according to reports, in the new postings preference for a particular group has been kept in view.
These transfers are not confined to the DCOs, but scores of other officials of lower level including Town Municipal Officers (TMOs), District Police Officers (DPOs), and Town Police Officers (TPOs) also stand transferred.
Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro, who is soft spoken and means business, should look into the rumours to dispel the impression about pre-poll rigging through transfers and postings of those officials who had developed some working understanding with Nazimeen in the districts dominated by sympathisers of the opposition parties, particularly the PPP.
