Agriculture department sees 28 suspensions

Secretary Agriculture took punitive measure after paying surprise visits to the offices in several districts.

HYDERABAD:

As many as 28 officers and staff of the Sindh Agriculture Department have been suspended from service due to their absenteeism, mismanagement and poor performance. Secretary Agriculture Sohail Ahmed Qureshi took punitive measure after paying surprise visits to the offices in several districts, said the department's spokesperson on Monday.

Four deputy directors, based in Hyderabad, Thatta, and Tando Allahyar, besides field assistants, junior clerks, sub-engineers, water management officers and assistant directors, among others, have been suspended. Meanwhile, the Secretary visited the department's office in Makli, Thatta district, and found it padlocked to his utter dismay.

The lower staff present outside the office told Qureshi that the officers attended their offices only once or twice a month. The secretary issued show cause notices to the absentee employees and suspended engineer Pervez Shaikh, head clerk Ghulam Rasool Sheedi and computer operator Mithu Diawan.

Qureshi witnessed that expensive machinery and parts were missing from the office's store room for which those three suspended officials were responsible.