KARACHI, July 17: Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro has taken a serious note of the fact that hundreds of disciplinary cases against the provincial government employees are pending for a long time.

“The cases should be decided and disposed of without delay as keeping such cases in pending unnecessarily for a long time helps the guilty persons escape punishment on one hand, and causes mental agony for the innocent employees on the other,” he said during a presentation on pending disciplinary cases at the Governor‘s House.

Mr Soomro was informed that there were 1,640 cases under the E&D rules against employees in the BS-1 and above, up to June 1, 2001, of which major penalties were imposed on 191 employees and minor penalties on 244 employees, 78 employees were exonerated while 1,127 cases were still pending.

The cases pertained to excise and taxation, irrigation and power, social welfare, finance, forest and wildlife, education, and health departments and the board of revenue.

A maximum number of cases - 506 - was against the employees of the health department, followed by 381 cases against the education department employees, 337 against forest and wildlife, 190 against the board of revenue and 133 against the E&T department.

All these departments did not provide an updated position of the outstanding inquiries and proceedings.

Similarly, 169 cases under E&D rules against officials in BS-17 and above were pending as on April 15, 2002, of which three pertained to the information department, five cases to the mines and mineral department, two food department, 60 to agriculture, ten to housing and town planning and 89 to local government and rural development.

It was informed that eleven cases were awaiting finalization in the services and general administration department.

The total number of cases on which chief secretary is the authorized officer to decide was 252, of which 131 were finalized, 121 referred back to departments, nine were pending and stay was obtained in two cases.—PPI