The government has finally decided to initiate the process of hiring a new Chairman for the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in an effort to set the house in order, following legal battles and controversies due to the previous Chairman
The previous chairman had faced several controversies and even was removed by Islamabad High Court but he obtained a stay order from a division bench which is set to hear the case on Monday.
Recently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the removal of the PARC Chairman Ghulam Ali, due to poor performance and an acting charge was given to a senior official of PARC.
Food Ministry in a recent letter to PARC management has directed to issue an advertisement seeking candidates for the new chairman of PARC.
PARC has been facing criticism regarding research for new varieties of different crops. Under the rightsizing move, the cabinet had also decided to conduct an audit of the performance of PARC.
It had decided to check how many new varieties PARC had introduced during the last several years. It will also check whether PARC has received any awards from the international community for its research or not.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recently expressed strong disapproval over administrative and financial irregularities in the Ministry of National Food Security and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), particularly regarding unlawful appointments.
The committee had also raised serious concerns over 332 alleged illegal appointments made by PARC. Audit officials disclosed that only 164 positions were advertised, while 332 individuals were hired, contravening official procedures.
The Acting Chairman of PARC appeared before the committee in the absence of Chairman Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali, who is reportedly on a three-month leave.
However, PAC members alleged that the chairman was deliberately sidelined to evade accountability. "The chairman has been removed to protect him from scrutiny," remarked Member of National Assembly (MNA) Aamir Dogar during the meeting of PAC.
Audit officials also revealed that no domicile certificates were provided for the appointees. Although the Acting Chairman claimed that 206 of the selected individuals were scientists recruited on merit, the committee raised concerns about the transparency of the process
In response to these serious allegations, the PAC had discussed about referring the case of Dr Ghulam Muhammad Ali to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for formal investigation. Chairman PAC confirmed that Dr Ali has been summoned to appear before the committee on May 6. It was informed that if he fails to justify the appointments, the case will be forwarded to NAB.
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