Commission removes public hiring freeze, selectively

ISI, among other departments, given go-ahead for recruitments finalised by FPSC.

ISLAMABAD:

The 18th Amendment implementation commission has permitted the Establishment Division to go ahead with limited recruitments to various government departments including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the Establishment Division had asked the commission to sanction recruitments that had been finalised through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

The Establishment Division informed the implementation commission that no-objection certificates (NOCs) had earlier been granted for filling the ISI posts, but were later withdrawn because of the commission’s orders to freeze recruitments in government departments.

The commission was informed that the intelligence agency had asked permission to hire some officials. “It was decided that because of the special nature of their work, the NOCs for filling up of those posts given earlier may be restored,” the official documents state.

The implementation commission had directed the Establishment Division not to make new recruitments as the first priority was to accommodate government officials working in ministries to be abolished under the 18th Amendment.

According to the documents, the commission, despite allowing these recruitments in some departments, reiterated that no fresh NOCs would be issued for others.

Zakat funds for provinces

The 18th Amendment implementation commission has also directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to immediately release Zakat funds to the provinces and federal areas. Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the commission directed the ministry to relax its requirement for utilisation reports and release the second instalment of Zakat.

The implementation commission has also decided to set up a committee headed by Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khursheed Shah to build consensus on collection of Zakat at the federal level.

The committee will consist of Privatisation Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Raza Rabbani and will hold discussions with the Sindh chief minister on the issue.

“A summary of the formula for distribution of Zakat among the provinces will be submitted to the Council of Common Interests once the committee takes on board all the stakeholders and builds a consensus on the issue,” according to the minutes of the implementation commission meeting.

The commission also directed the ministry to immediately release funds to national level health institutions across the country for the treatment of poor and deserving patients.

It was agreed that the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance of 1980 had to be suitably amended to limit its jurisdiction to the federal areas and to the collection of Zakat.

The implementation commission observed that there was no need to appoint a new chairman of the Central Zakat Council, since it was to be abolished under the 18th Amendment.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.