12 November 2004	Friday	28 Ramazan 1425

PESHAWAR, Nov 11: Despite maintaining a pool of about 400 surplus employees of the defunct Fata Development Corporation , fresh appointments were being made for the NWFP Governor's Fata Secretariat and its directorates, sources said.

After abolishing the Fata DC in 2002 to control non-developmental expenditures, the Federal Finance Division created a pool of surplus employees, who lost their posts after the size of the corporation's directorates was slashed under the then government's down-sizing drive.

Recently about 50 fresh appointments, officials said, had been made against various posts of different categories in the Governor Secretariat, Peshawar, and its line directorates.

The secretariat has recently appointed 20 peons, 12 watchmen, two tracers in BPS-5, four head drafts-men in BPS-13, four gardners in BPS-1 while the number of appointments made in the health directorate could not be ascertained.

Set up in 1971 the defunct Fata DC was meant for carrying out development projects in the tribal area adjacent to the Afghan border.

Initially about 850 employees of the defunct corporation were put in the surplus pool and they were getting monthly salaries without performing any duty.

Later, form time to time, some 400 were re-adjusted against various posts to strengthen the Governor Secretariat of Fata, Peshawar.

Information gathered by Dawn revealed that the pool of surplus employees includes 91 watchmen, 194 tube-well operators, 18 upper division clerks, one finance officer, four drivers, three steno-typists and employees of the agriculture engineering.

An official said the government paid roughly Rs2 million a month in the form of salaries to the surplus employees while on the other hand fresh appointments were afoot in different categories in the secretariat and various directorates.

"Despite the fact that there are 91 watchmen in the pool of surplus employees, the authorities have appointed 12 fresh watchmen," said an official.

Officials said that watchmen forming part of the pool of surplus employees belonged to different parts of Fata, therefore, it was not possible for them to perform duty at the secretariat in Peshawar.

The sources said that some of the surplus employees were close relatives of influential tribesmen including tribal Maliks and elders.

The sources said that the Frontier Region, Bannu, had been given Extra-ordinary representation in the fresh appointments as compare to other tribal agencies.

Officials in the Governor Secretariat said that the surplus employees were reluctant to join posts out of their respective area that was why fresh appointments were being made on the basis of two years' contracts.

The Deputy Secretary of Administration, Governor Secretariat, Fata, Shehanshah Khan, when contacted, said that the matter of surplus employees' refusal to join duty at Peshawar had been brought to the notice of the secretary to the Governor.

"We have suggested to the authorities to remove these employees from the service or make them join duties," said Mr Khan.

He said that the surplus pool employees, particularly from grade one to four, had refused to join the new posts created in the secretariat against various positions.

The government, he added, was planning to re-adjust the remaining surplus pool employees after introducing the proposed devolution plan in the tribal area.

Under the proposed plan 16 new departments including health, works and services and education are being established where these employees would be re-adjusted.