ISLAMABAD, Aug 10: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing Friday directed the ministry of housing to cancel appointments it had made during the tenure of former housing minister Faisal Saleh Hayat.

The Committee took notice of the several new posts created by the ministry in this regard.

Members pointed out that as many as 130 people were inducted on these new posts in violation of rules and regulations.

The chairman of the committee MNA Pervez Khan Advocate said: “Most of the newly inducted staff was from Punjab and more than 50 per cent of them were from MNA Faisal Saleh Hayat’s constituency, and approximate financial impact on account of their salaries was 25 per cent of the total salary expenditure.”

The meeting was called to analyse that whether the excess budget to be required for giving salaries to the new recruits is justified and its effects on the existing budget.

The meeting also discussed the procedures adopted for hiring, details of the authorities that approved the creation of new posts and compliance on recommendations on ban on transfer of plots to members of the executive committee and other officials.

MNA Iqbal Mohammad Ali among some other members of the committee said the new recruitments were done to favour individuals and not keeping in view the present strength or the future need of officers and staff.

Secretary Housing Kamran Lashari conceded that the new posts were created and staff inducted but all this had been done before the beginning of his stint at the ministry.

However, the committee was quick to pass down its direction to cancel all 130 posts that included positions of directors, assistant directors, accounts officers, computer programmers upper and lower division clerks, engineers and electricians, draftsmen, accountants, and cashiers and gatekeepers besides other supporting staff to mention some.

The committee, under the chairmanship of MNA Pervez Khan handed equally harsh sentence when it directed the ministry of housing and works to cancel plots of some of its senior officials.

The committee noted that as many 18 members of the Executive Committee of Housing Foundation were allotted plots in the capital in violation of terms and conditions of the department.

And the warning was clear when the chair of the Committee said that officials on deputations in government departments would not be entitled to plots in the city until they had completed their three-year tenure.

The Minister for Housing and Works Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai sought some time to investigate both the issues and implement the committee’s directions in letter and spirit.

The committee agreed to the request but gave no deadline.