Retired bureaucrat to head NDRMF

Recommendation for Muhammad Ashraf will land in federal cabinet for nod

ISLAMABAD:

The government’s quest to pick the best suited candidate to head the National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) has ended with the selection of a retired bureaucrat whose relationship skills have been given preference over academic qualifications of competitors.

The board of NDRMF has approved the name of Muhammad Ashraf, former secretary of parliamentary affairs and water resources, as its recommended candidate for the position of chief executive officer, according to sources.

The issue will soon land in the federal cabinet for approval.

Just a month ago, the NDRMF board had declined to endorse the candidacy of Ashraf and referred the matter back to the nomination committee to review its proposal, showed official documents.

Ashraf’s name will now be sent to the cabinet for final approval, along with the names of two covering candidates - Syed Asif Hussain, a serving bureaucrat and Bilal Anwar, a climate change expert.

The experience and academic qualification of the covering candidates appeared to be better than the number one candidate, according to the curriculum vitae of the three shortlisted candidates.

The NDRMF had been set up for disaster preparedness with a loan of $200 million secured from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The NDRMF has been marred by internal conflicts and the lack of leadership has made the organisation yet another non-performing entity.

The post of chief executive has remained vacant since September last year and the government has thrice advertised the position. The shortlisted candidates during the second and third attempts were largely the same.

The board decided to prefer the relationship skills of Ashraf over the experience and academic qualification of competitors, a member of the board told The Express Tribune while explaining the rationale behind selecting a retired bureaucrat.

Based on the scores of shortlisting, responses of candidates during the interview and keeping in view the advertised selection criteria, the nomination committee had recommended the names of three candidates(in order of preference) to the board as most suitable candidates for the post of NDRMF CEO in September this year. These included Muhammad Ashraf, Syed Asia Hussain and Bilal Anwar.

The official documents showed that the recommended candidates appeared before the board in October. The board members interacted with candidates and elicited their views on various aspects of the fund as well as disaster risk management.

The board members extensively discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the three candidates. The importance of leadership, decision making, domain knowledge and team building skills of the candidates were also discussed. Some members also gave their view on the eligibility criteria.

Headed by Planning Commission deputy chairman, the board did not approve the name of Muhammad Ashraf and sent the matter back to the nomination committee, which is headed by the planning secretary.

“The board referred the matter back to the nomination committee and asked it to resubmit its recommendations to the board, keeping in view the deliberations held therein”, according to the documents.

The nomination committee met on October 8 and decided not to change its merit order and again recommended the name of Muhammad Ashraf as the top candidate.

The nomination committee took the decision while keeping in view the internal conflicts within the company, mistrust amongst employees due to lack of leadership, delay in the projects, non-adherence to the proposed project deadlines and ineffective monitoring and evaluation, according to the documents.

The committee again proposed the same panel, which the board finally approved this week, said the sources.

Shortlisted candidates

Muhammad Ashraf is a retired bureaucrat and has done master in international relations from Quaid-e-Azam University in 1985. He did MBA-finance from Punjab University in 2003. He did bachelor in commerce from Punjab University. Ashraf retired from government service as federal secretary in 2020.

Syed Asif Hussain, a serving bureaucrat, did his PhD in Agriculture from Louisiana State University, the US, post graduate diploma in environmental management from Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands and an Executive Leadership Development Programme from Harvard University, US. He has been serving as additional secretary development in AJK since August 2016.

Bilal Anwar has the most relevant experience in the subject of climate change. He has played a role in framing and development of international climate policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2021.

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