The government has taken around two years in appointing the director general of Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC).
The process of hiring the DG kicked off in September 2018 and the appointment was finally made in July this year. Requests in that regard were sent to the cabinet twice last year but the hiring could not be finalised.
There may be a reason behind the too much delay in completing the process. Sources told The Express Tribune that the Ministry of Science and Technology wanted to convert the post into the one based on MP scale but its efforts did not bear fruit.
The Science and Technology Division insisted that PNAC was a corporate body established under the PNAC Act 2017 and worked under administrative control of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Its task is to accredit the assessment bodies to enable them to ensure the quality of products, services and management systems in accordance with the international and national standards for sustainable socio-economic development in the country.
The vacant post of PNAC DG - equivalent to BS-21 grade - was advertised on September 30, 2018 in the national media. In response, 77 applications were received. Applications were scrutinised by a shortlisting committee on the basis of advertised eligibility criteria.
A selection board, constituted with approval of the prime minister, conducted interviews of shortlisted candidates and evaluated them on the basis of their qualification, research papers, senior management experience, knowledge about the organisation, personality, communication skills, leadership qualities, etc.
The board recommended three candidates in the order of merit, which included Ismat Gul Khattak, Dr Ali Abbas Qazilbash and Irfan Ahmad Rabbani.
The matter was also taken up in cabinet meetings on October 3, 2019 and November 19, 2019, which decided that the request for converting the post into MP scale may be placed before the cabinet committee on conversion to MP scale along with other identical issues for deliberation.
However, the committee did not endorse the conversion of the post. The prime minister also gave directives that the ongoing recruitment process may be completed at the earliest.
Later, the Science and Technology Division sought the cabinet’s approval for one of the three candidates in the panel for appointment as the PNAC DG for a period of four years on a contract basis.
The cabinet considered the summary submitted by the Science and Technology Division and approved the appointment of Ismat Gul Khattak as the PNAC DG for four years.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2020.
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