HYDERABAD, April 15: A controversy has arisen over promotions by the provincial selection board-I of forest department’s two junior officers allegedly facing corruption charges in the National Accountability Bureau. Senior officer Bashir Ahmad Nizamani, who has been superseded and posted in the agriculture department as EDO, Sukkur, has gone on four-month leave, describing it an injustice.

However, the selection board, headed by the chief minister, said Mr Nizamani had been superseded because he had low quantification score, i.e. 68.28 against the required score of 70.

Official sources of the forest department revealed that the provincial selection board-I at a meeting presided over by the chief minister on March 31 discussed promotion cases of officers of forest and wildlife departments and finally promoted Mehboob Alam Ansari and Munir Ahmad Awan from grade 19 to 20 as the chief forest conservator and the additional secretary (technical) respectively.

They said the working paper presented before the selection board, reportedly by the forest secretary, was not based on factual position because facts regarding pending NAB inquiries against the two officers were not included in it, leading to the unfair decision.

Initially, Mr Ansari was given additional charge of the chief conservator on his own pay and scale, prompting Mr Nizamani to file an appeal before the chief secretary but he had failed to get a personal hearing or reply from the secretary to date.

The sources said the administrative department stated that no departmental/anti-corruption inquiries were pending against officers, including Bashir Ahmad Nizamani, Mehboob Alam Ansari, Munir Ahmad Awan, Mohammad, Mohammad Pathan Shaikh, Dr Lekhraj Kella and Mohammad Umar Memon.

When contacted over telephone, Mr Nizamani claimed that his quantification score of ACRs (Annual Confidential Reports) had been deliberately reduced with mala fide intentions, otherwise, he was fit for promotion given the fact that his score determined previously by the administrative department in its working paper dated Feb 7, 2004, was 74.56. However, he added, the administrative department in its new working paper dated Dec 4,2004, showed reduced his marks at 68.28 under. He claimed that he topped the seniority list.

On the other hand, the NAB is seized of the inquiry against 14 officials of forest and wildlife departments, including Mr Ansari and Mr Awan, for their alleged financial malpractice in the Asian Development Bank-funded Sindh forestry development project of over Rs1 billion and illegal cutting of trees in the Sukkur circle.

These officials were issued notices by the NAB on Feb 18, requiring them to make themselves available for inquiry.

Under the eight-year ADB project initiated in 1991, 52 forests were to be promoted, besides new plantation in riverine forests. The project was later extended for another two years.

Mr Nizamani regretted that junior officers were promoted and he was posted in the agriculture department which was not his field. He said he was still awaiting a personal hearing by the chief secretary.

He alleged that Mr Ansari had tempered with his ACR previously while he was to be promoted from grade 18 to 19.

However, Mr Ansari claimed that the promotion process was based on fair assessment and the decision lied with the selection board.