IHC moved against Billion Tree project hiring

Petitioner says candidates with no basic qualification and experience appointed instead of him

ISLAMABAD: The appointment of employees for the PM’s Billion Tree Tsunami project was challenged in Islamabad High Court on Friday.

The petitioner, Amir Sattar, stated that he had applied for the post of the project’s geographic information systems (GIS) analyst after applications were invited in a newspaper. According to the advertisement, there were 33 openings for the post -- six for the four provinces, four for Gilgit-Baltistan, one for Islamabad and four for AJK.

He added that the basic qualification for the post of GIS analyst mentioned in advertisement was a master’s degree in remote sensing and GIS/computer science/IT with two years’ experience in the field.

Sattar stated that he qualified the open testing service and obtained 44 marks after which he was called for interview on March 18 this year.

He maintained that he replied to all relevant queries made by the selection committee. Moreover, he produced all his certificates which were examined and appreciated by the selection committee. He was then asked to wait for result and merit list.

However, he was not hired and the merit list was not issued. The petitioner approached the officials concerned for merit list. The focal person, Faisal Nadeem Sehr, told him petitioner to submit a request to project’s director. He sent an email to the deputy secretary administration for the list but officer did not reply.

The petitioner found out that the person who has been appointed instead of him was only a diploma holder in GIS. His profile further reflected that he was a Master’s in Geography whereas the eligibility required for the post was a Master’s in GIS and remote sensing /computer science/IT.

He also discovered that 18 candidates who had no basic qualification and experience required for the post were appointed after being recommended by the influential political personalities.

“According to the information received by the petitioner a candidate who obtained 27 marks in OTS and had failed to clear the written examination, was appointed GIS analyst, for that reason the climate change secretary and section officer are reluctant to issue the merit list,” the petition read.

The petitioner said he had also moved a complaint to the prime minister through the Citizens Portal but his grievances were not addressed.

“The appointments of those persons who are not even eligible or failed to pass the exam, is illegal, void and liable to be set aside,” the petition read.

He prayed to the court to issue directions to the climate change secretary and section officer to act in accordance with law consider the appointment of the candidates who fulfilled the requisite qualification and experience for the post.

The court summoned the climate change secretary on June 2 for an explanation.