PHOTO: FILE
“A severe administrative crisis is looming in absence of the director general as important decisions regarding finance, human resource management and operations are pending,” a senior PES officer told The Express Tribune.
Former DG Rizwan Naseer said that Rescue 1122 had managed the issues so far, adding, “If the appointment is not made within few days, the crisis will start hitting the rescue service.”
“It is unprecedented in the modern history of departments that a post has been left vacant for such a significant amount of time. Moreover, no one was given a temporary additional charge while an appointment for DG was delayed by formalities,” the former director general stated.
Rescue 1122 begins final exercise for international accreditation
On the issue that there is no provision in the law for acting or additional charge for the emergency service, Naseer said an extension can be given or a new appointment could be made after completion of the due process.
An officer shared that a senior bureaucrat recently given a key assignment in Punjab from the federal administration had serious issues with Rizwan Naseer.
In his tenure in Home Department on a key position before being transferred to federal in 2017, Naseer, had wrested away Rescue 1122’s control from the Home Department to the Services and General Administration Department.
He claimed that the issue of DG’s appointment pendency was due to the cold war between that officer and Naseer.
However, the former director general ruled out this reason behind the delay and asserted that the Emergency Council had approved his appointment as the DG and said the issuance of formal notification was in the process. He hoped that it would be done within a day or two.
Unfolding the nature of a looming crisis, the officer said that an overwhelming majority of the officers in the force were on contract. A large number of rescue employees’ contracts had expired and required formal extension orders.
“In the absence of DG, everything is pending,” he said.
He further added that the payslips in Rescue 1122 were electronically/automatically generated. The expiry date of all the contracts had been uploaded on the system, therefore, those employees whose contract had expired cannot retrieve their salaries without renewal.
Similarly, a considerable number of bills went pending in the finance department as these need the endorsement of the DG after a designated ceiling.
A few days before Pakistan Rescue Team’s certification from United Nations (UN) International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), Naseer’s contract ended. The service attended the formal ceremony and meetings of the process without a director general.
He attended the formal INSRAG certification ceremony at the Governor House as the Pakistan Rescue Team Commander, contrastingly the UN INSARAG team did not have the post of commander in its team composition.
Naseer, despite the expiry of the tenure, also chaired an annual review meeting at the rescue service headquarters as its founder.
Rescue 1122 saves 1.09 million lives in 2018
Upon inquiry, Naseer confirmed his presence in the aforementioned meeting and said ‘no serious decision was made nor order was passed’ by him during the meeting.
“Tossing between Naseer and the supervisory department is the most awkward situation for us. We can neither confront Naseer – even though he has no official authority – nor refuse the supervisory authorities,” an officer complained.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Momin Agha seconded the claim of Naseer saying the emergency council had approved his appointment as the DG.
“Procedural issues in this regard are being sorted out and these will be addressed within few days,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2020.
1714024018-0/ModiLara-(1)1714024018-0-270x192.webp)
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ