KARACHI, June 20: Rules and regulations of the Sindh Public Service Commission are being violated by City District Government Karachi with regard to the appointments, particularly in BS-16 and above grades, in the Karachi Institute of Heart Disease (KIHD).

Well-placed sources in the city government said that the selection committee constituted by the CDGK for recruitment in the KIHD had started hiring staff for 386 posts in BS-1 to BS-18.

It is about a month now when the advertisement in this respect had been placed in different newspapers inviting applications for these posts of 64 different categories, including doctors and paramedics.

More than 7,500 applications were received in response to the advertisement and the committee conducted interviews from June 15 to 18. Surprisingly, no written test was conducted.

It may be mentioned here in 1990, it had been decided that all appointments in BS-11grade and above would be made through the SPSC. However, the cabinet committee headed by the chief minister, in its February 2, 2005 meeting, decided to withdraw the posts in BS-11 to BS-15 from the purview of the SPSC.

The committee decided that written test and interview would be held for recruitment in BS-5 and above grades, whereas for appointments in BS-1 to BS-4, only interview would be conducted.

The sources said that the city government was violating the procedure laid down by the cabinet committee and rules and regulations of SPSC by avoiding written tests for filling the 386 vacancies, including 75 posts in BS-16 to BS-18. The sources claimed that the appointments were being made on political basis.

When contacted, the city government official concerned maintained that “SPSC rules do not apply on autonomous bodies like the KIHD.” As such, he added, the committee had members of the KIHD governing body as members, held only interviews of the candidates. He denied the city government having violated any rule and regulations.

A source in the city government’s health department said that the Karachi Medical and Dental College was also an autonomous institution where the former city government had appointed 45 employees in BS-17 and above through the SPSC two years back. About three months back, the city government had violated SPSC rules while filling 65 vacancies in BS-16 to BS-18 in the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the sources added.—Online