Department of Plant Protection: Director general post lying vacant

Hurting country’s import and export activities

ISLAMABAD: The unnecessary delay in the appointment of a regular director general (DG) for the Department of Plant Protection (DPP), which comes under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, is affecting the import and export activities of the business community.

Officials said that despite the court’s ruling and establishment division’s instructions, an unnecessary delay in appointing the director general is causing issues.

The DPP is the key department for ensuring the quality standards of the country’s imports and exports, but the department is facing challenges due to absence of a regular director general for the last few months.

In a letter written on January 8, 2016 to Prime Minister Secretariat, the establishment division pointed out that Sahibzada Imran Ahmed Shami, the incumbent DG of DPP, was not fulfilling the set criteria and was ineligible for the post. The incumbent was an ex-flying officer and his appointment was in violation of the rules.

According to recruitment rules of the post of advisor/DG, DPP, the candidate should possess second class Master’s degree in Agriculture Science with specialisation in Entomology or MSc in Entomology and preference will be given to holder of doctorate degree. However, according to his CV, Shami is an MBA (Finance), the letter notes.

In its order issued on February 2, 2016, the Sindh High Court mentioned that Shami is holding the look-after charge and no efforts have been shown to ensure initiation of the regular appointment process. It further called for making immediate appointment to the post of (regular) DG for DPP.

The other side

When contacted, spokesperson of the ministry said that it has recently sent a summary to the Federal Public Service Commission to advertise the post for the regular DG of the DPP. However, the spokesperson said that it takes a long time for the due process despite getting approval from the establishment division.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.