ISLAMABAD, March 18: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Thursday told the National Assembly that 296 people were appointed as resource persons in Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) between October 12, 1999 and November 15, 2002.
In a written reply to a question of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) MNA Mohammad Hanif Abbasi, the minister told the lower house that these persons were appointed in each station and centre, including the headquarters.
The list of resource persons, appointed during the three- year rule of Gen Musharraf, shows that only 35 appointments have been made on regular basis which is only 11.82 per cent of the total appointments.
It shows that the services of a majority of 203 resources persons were hired on daily wages and daily booking basis. Similarly, only 33 persons were inducted as resource persons on contract basis while 25 joined Radio Pakistan as trainees.
It also shows that most of the appointments were made in various stations and centres of Islamabad, followed by Lahore and Karachi. As many as 135 people were appointed in Islamabad, 30 in Lahore and 20 in Karachi.
The remaining appointments have been made in Rawalpindi (18), Hyderabad (15), Peshawar (13), Mirpur, AJK (10), Zhob (9), Faqeerabad (7), Multan (6), Bahawalpur (6), Gilgit (5), Larkana (5), Turbat (4), Khairpur (4), Skardu (3), Khuzdar (3), Faisalabad (2) and Chitral (1).
The minister told the house that these appointments had been made with the permission of the information ministry through selection boards and strictly as per recruitment rules, except daily wages appointments, which were made purely on temporary basis. He said the jobs were advertized in eight major newspapers of the country.
