ISLAMABAD: The ministry of industries and production has told the Public Accounts Committee that more than 700 appointments made in the Utility Stores Corporation in 2008 were irregular.

During a meeting of the PAC on Wednesday its Chairman Syed Khurshid Shah directed secretary of the ministry Raja Hassan Abbas to hold an inquiry into the matter and submit a report within a month.

According to the audit report of the ministry, the entire induction of 3,830 employees in the USC was irregular. During the scrutiny of audit paras for 2010-11, it has been revealed that the Prime Minister’s Task Force issued a ‘no-objection certificate’ to the USC in 2008 for vacant posts of area managers, assistant accounts officers, junior managers and other positions.

As per the audit report, “708 employees were appointed in excess of the approval” in these categories. It pointed out that the “NOC was not obtained for excess appointments than the advertised posts”, adding that “the gazetted posts were filled with under-qualified persons”.

It said: “Recruitment committee for appointment of BPS-10 to BPS-16 officials was not constituted” and “abnormal surplus staff was appointed in Lahore zone, which debarred the candidates of other zones of the country.”

According to the audit report, “The appointments were made on the basis of favouritism and in utter disregard of NOC, advertisement, qualification and regional quota.”

PAC member Mehmood Khan Achakzai said apparently the merit had been compromised in these unconstitutional appointments.

Auditor General of Pakistan Akhtar Buland Rana said the positions were advertised, but the excess appointments were unlawful. He said the ministry should hold responsible someone who was running the USC’s affairs in 2008. The departmental accounts committee had directed the USC to get the appointments regularised from the competent forum, but it was not done, he added.

“This cannot be done with the active connivance of the then managing director of the USC,” another PAC member Pervaiz Malik said.

The secretary of the ministry of industries and production told the committee that the prime minister had approved over 3,000 appointments, but the rest were made without the approval of the competent authority.

He said the USC management had sacked some officials, but it was done because of misconduct, unsatisfactory performance and fake educational credentials. The finance division did not regularise the appointments and suggested that the matter be placed before the PAC, he added.

The PAC observed that since it doesn’t have the authority to regularise these appointments, therefore, an inquiry be initiated into the matter.

It asked the ministry to submit the inquiry report within a month.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2015

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