KARACHI, Aug 29: The administrative changes introduced by the new authority of the Fishermen Cooperative Society following the departure of Navy personnel have come under fire from various quarters.

Soon after taking over the FCS as its head, provincial Minister for Livestock and Fisheries restructured the administrative setup of the society by inducting directly his nominees in various departments.

Most of them are not regular employees of the society. Their services have been acquired on contract basis and without obtaining prior approval from the FCS board of directors.

In a recent communication sent to the FCS chairman, the director representing Khadda Market area raised the issue of administrative changes.

According to him, the issue is highly sensitive as it involves ‘legal validity’. While criticizing direct appointments of officials, as well as replacement of the manager administration, he argued that the board was a competent authority to take such decisions but no approval was obtained from it.

He maintained that the board had already banned appointments in officers grade except for the technical post. He also objected to the granting of special increments and promotions to the officers and described the moves as violation of the FCS by-laws.

He claimed that the FCS chairman’s decision had not only deprived senior officials of their due rights, but also closed the doors for promotions of the junior cadre serving the society for many years.

He regretted that the new administration, instead of taking measures to curtail non-development expenditures, had increased its financial burden further.

The director has called upon the FCS chairman to use his good offices as provincial minister in seeking from the government a special package for the fishermen who had suffered a lot in the recent rains.