Illegal recruitment scandal leads to suspension of senior KDA officials
A major scandal of illegal recruitments has surfaced in the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), leading to the suspension of salaries for 53 employees, the suspension of five officers, including the Deputy Secretary and IT Program Officer, over alleged fake and suspicious appointments.
On the directives of the Minister of Local Government, the Director General of KDA has formed a three-member investigation committee, raising the possibility of uncovering high-ranking officials involved in the illegal recruitments.
Highly reliable sources have revealed that a major scandal of illegal recruitments through alleged forgery has come to light in KDA, with the possibility that hundreds of individuals were fraudulently hired in the authority.
Sources disclosed that corrupt officers in KDA allegedly recruited their relatives and people from their native villages in exchange for hefty bribes, with a former senior officer from the Finance Department being identified as the mastermind behind the entire scheme.
The exposure of the collusion between officers from the IT Department, Finance Department, and Secretariat has created an uproar within the organisation, with these officers now scrambling to protect the individuals they illicitly hired.
Internal sources within KDA revealed that the illegally hired employees were identified through fraudulent MR numbers.
According to sources, the DG KDA, Syed Shujaat Hussain, has refused to succumb to any pressure regarding the illegal appointments and has ordered the suspension of salaries for 53 suspiciously hired employees in the first phase.
Additionally, five officers suspected of involvement in illegal recruitments have been suspended, including Deputy Secretary Zafar Abbasi, IT Program Officer Noor Ahmed, Accounts Officer of Polyclinic Finance and Accounts Muhammad Jamil, Stenographer Bill Clerk Shakeel Ahmed, and Senior Audit Officer Finance Muhammad Yousuf.
The employees whose salaries have been suspended include Sanoobar Iqbal from the Computer Department, Khizra Afzal from the Lines Area Project, Abdul Wasi Siddiqui from Gulzar Hijri Engineering Department, Hina Aleem, Saima Adil, Syed Ibad Anwar Rizvi, Mah Reeb Imran, Owais Wahab, Dildar Ahmed from the P&UD Department, Kamran Ali from the APC Land, Ati Rehman from the Lines Area Project, Jamil Ahmed from Resettlement, Azeem Khalid from Malir Bund, among others.
Additionally, the names of employees from various departments include Muhammad Razi from New Scheme Land, Muhammad Sarfaraz Aslam from Land and Estate, Allah Bakhsh from Lines Area Project, Kainat Javed from Qasba Township, Adil Majeed from Public Housing, Abdullah Qureshi from Landhi Township Land, Abdul Wasi Siddiqui from V&R Land, Hamza Shafi from Joher Division Engineering Department, Ahmed Qureshi from Recovery Department, Adeel Khan from Resettlement, and more.
Further names include Muhammad Khizar, Adina Javed from the Computer Department, Muhammad Amir from Korangi Division Engineering, Amir Hamza from Finance and Accounts, Muhammad Atif from an unidentified department, Abdul Rahman from the Lines Area Project, Fahad Nasir, Muhammad Umair, Hamza Ali, and Saad Rahman from unidentified departments, Shagufta from Welfare Secretariat, Asif Soomro from Secretariat, Syed Hassan Raza from the Land Department, Imran Saleem from Secretariat, among others.
Also, the list includes Owais Ahmed from the Engineering Department, Shazia Fatima, Shabana Fatima, Sonia Ahmed, Nida Javed, Asma Kanwal, Syed Waseem Hassan, Asad Hussain, Shariq Ishaq Zai from the Welfare Department, Syed Amir Raza, Hissamuddin from the Engineering Department, Iram Farzana from Secretariat, Malika from Welfare Secretariat, Imran Ali Khan from P&ID, Waseem Ahmed from Land, and Muhammad Waqas Abbasi from Welfare Secretariat.
Director General KDA Syed Shujaat Hussain, under the directives of Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani, has formed a three-member committee to investigate the illegal recruitments.
The committee is chaired by Deputy Secretary Admin Syed Moinuddin Athar, with members including Deputy Director IT Syed Izhar-ul-Haq Hashmi and Accounts Officer Finance and Accounts Sohail Basit.
Meanwhile, sources have further revealed that an investigation into the records from the past two years has begun, after which previous records will also be scrutinized. Sources indicate that further revelations of hundreds of illegal appointments in KDA are expected.