PESHAWAR: Backtracking on its earlier stand, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided not to take the probe committee report regarding the Bank of Khyber controversy to the provincial assembly as the committee described the issue as a result of ‘communication gap’.

Briefing journalists about the decision taken in a cabinet meeting held with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak here on Friday, special assistant to the chief minister on information Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani said that the probe committee regarding allegations into the BoK had proposed constitution of a search committee for appointment of managing director of the Bank of Khyber in future, and if required to bring necessary amendments to the BOK Act.

Mr Ghani said that the government had now decided not to present the probe committee report in the assembly. The government had earlier said that the report would be discussed by the house.

He said the committee, headed by Senior Minister Sikandar Sherpao, presented its initial report to the cabinet and asked the chief minister to direct all departments to avoid disclosing internal affairs and disputes through media. The provincial government had constituted the committee on April 18, 2016 to probe into the allegations levelled by BOK managing director against provincial finance minister Muzaffar Said through advertisement in media.

Mushtaq Ghani says controversy was result of ‘communication gap’

Other members of the probe committee included senior minister Shahram Khan Tarakai and provincial ministers Shah Farman and Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi. The committee in its report said that the BOK MD had violated a written agreement he had signed with the government at the time of his appointment, and gave advertisement about administrative matters of the bank without bringing it into knowledge of the provincial government.

It said that such tendencies should be discouraged whether it was related to the government or semi-government institutions. He said that the BOK inquiry committee stressed the need for taking care in matters regarding the prime financial institution, which would have direct effect on stability of the institution.

Mr Ghani said that the committee had proposed that CM should issue directives to all departments and institutions to not openly publicise internal matters and conflicts of their respective institutions.

He said that during the meeting the committee proposed that there should be a team of experts related to the banking sector and its members should be appointed as per rules of Pakistan Banking Council and through conduct of proper aptitude test/interview, instead of recruiting on discretion of the bank management.

The provincial government’s spokesperson said that it was also proposed to constitute a search and selection committee for appointment of the managing director of BOK like recruitments of vice-chancellors of universities and other chief executives of institutions, made through the committee. For this purpose, he said that if it was required the necessary amendments should be made into the BOK Act.

In order to remove the reservations of BOK employees, Mr Ghani said that the committee had proposed to send the case to the bank’s board of directors for a review. He said that it was suggested that the bank employees, who had been dismissed without fulfilling legal requirements, should be reinstated.

Similarly, he said that the committee had asked the provincial financial department to constitute a committee to review overall recruitments in BOK. It was proposed to hire a well-reputed audit firm to analyse the financial position of the bank along with preparation of a report for exploring new investment avenues in the province.

He said that the committee had asked for the appointment of an expert on communication strategy to clear all advertisements related to sensitive matters and policy before publication.

Mr Ghani said that the cabinet had approved the establishment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faculty of Paramedical and Allied Health Sciences Institute with an objective to bring improvement in the health sector.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2016