KARACHI, Dec 7: The government’s devolution plan received a major setback on Friday when the Sindh education department bypassed the country’s biggest city government while appointing about 600 teachers for educational institutions now with the city government.

Even the City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, was kept in the dark about the appointments initiated by the executive district officer on the instructions of the provincial authorities.

Terming such appointments an ‘uncalled for’ interference in the affairs of Karachi City government, Nazim told Dawn that such an act on behalf of provincial education department through an EDO gives one an impression that there was a parallel city government in Karachi.

The EDO, on being questioned by the Nazim, told the Nazim that the orders for issuing appointment letters to teachers of the City Government’s schools were give to him by provincial education secretary, and it was the reason he did not intimate him about such recruitments.

The Nazim has issued a letter to the EDO, asking him to furnish him details of all such appointments within three days so that he could take up the issue with the higher authorities.

When Naimatullah Khan was contacted by Dawn to know his reaction over such appointments, he said he and other Nazims of the entire Sindh at a meeting in Islama-bad had recently apprised

the President Pervez Musharraf that a parallel system of government was still in vogue in the province and taking advantage of it, the secretaries of the provincial government departments get all their works done at their whims through the EDOs without even intimating the nazims of City and district governments of the province.

Taking a strong notice of such appointments, the Nazim said that he would lodge a strong protest over such appointments with the Sindh governor as soon as he gets the details of such appointments from the concerned EDO.

Insiders told Dawn that the city Nazim who was taken aback with the induction of such a large number of teachers without his approval, vowed to take up the issue with senior officials of National Reconstruction Bureau as such a trend was also against the spirit of the local government’s devolution plan.

“At a time when the strength of employees of the city government has already swelled to around 1,35,000 and when it is not being allowed to utilise other resources, the provincial education department has further overburdened the city government,” remarked a senior officer.

It was the second time during a short span of three months that the provincial government departments interfered in the affairs of the City government without even intimating the City Nazim.

Earlier, a large number of doctors, belonging to the city government hospitals, were transferred to the Sindh government hospitals by the provincial local government department without the consent of the City Nazim and the concerned minister.