ISLAMABAD: Senator Rehman Malik on Tuesday said due to the absence of a constitutional protection, bureaucrats lacked decision making powers, resulting in the lacklustre performance by the ministries.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis on Tuesday. The senators observed that the federal ministries were not taking required initiatives in their routine performances.

The committee chaired by Senator Baz Mohammad Khan was discussing the performance of the Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) along with the current state of employment opportunities abroad for Pakistanis.

The committee was informed that jobs in the Gulf countries were declining and there were discussions with Qatar to provide a quota of another 100,000 for Pakistanis. The committee members demanded that the ministry should play a proactive role in this regard.

Senator says he will bring a private member bill enabling govt officers to take appropriate decisions

The lawmakers noted that several issues that were raised at the committee could have been resolved by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.

“There are cases in NAB and even several misappropriations and issues such as non-payment of salaries in the WWF Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But had there been effective structures, these flaws could have been checked,” said Senator Abdul Qayyum.

“Regarding the overseas Pakistanis, do we have data about successful expatriates such as mayors, parliamentarians or businesspersons who can be approached for the export of human resource? The answer is no.”

Senator Rehman Malik said there was a feeling of fear and uncertainty among bureaucrats that was why nobody was willing to take decisions.

“I have been an officer too and I can feel the situation. Bureaucrats need to have constitutional protection otherwise they are exposed to pressures which could be from political heads and courts and nowadays NAB is in the field,” he added.

“I am about to bring a private member’s bill in this regard so that the bureaucrats can have confidence to say no to pressures or take decision which are appropriate,” he added.

During the discussion on misappropriations in the WWB, KP, the committee was informed that the cases included hiring of a cleaner as a teacher and procurement of land for schools at inflated rates.

The committee was also informed that five cases had been filed by NAB in the accountability court against officials of the WWB, KP.

The Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) is a federal entity whereas projects are finalised at the provincial level by the relevant WWB of each province in coordination with the provincial labour departments.

On the other hand, officials from the WWB, KP, complained that the federal government did not release funds from July to the end of January in the last fiscal year whereas Rs550 million were transferred on June 16, 2017, just 15 days before the end of the fiscal year. They said such situations usually resulted in financial mismanagements.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2017