Post-devolution woes: NCHD imposes ban on future hiring

ISLAMABAD:

For an institution facing the axe, post devolution, winding down will not be easy.

Following a cut in budget allocation from the ministry, chairperson of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) imposed a ban on future hiring and called upon provincial chapters to find donors for their own projects.

Minutes of a recently-held meeting of the commission revealed that chairperson Nafisa Shah did not allow for discussion on the agitation present among the body’s employees.

“The director-general … sought permission from the chairperson for discussion on the prevailing situation before proceeding further,” official minutes of the meeting read. “The worthy chairperson did not allow for this.” the minutes added.

Earlier, Shah was summoned by President Asif Ali Zardari and directed to follow ‘party policy’ in this regard, sources said.

Meanwhile, PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah, who had earlier assured protesting NHCD employees that he would take up their case, criticised the commission for protecting its employees and its hiring process.

The DG said that the commission’s budget has been slashed to Rs1.9 billion, from Rs2.6 billion, for the remaining part of 2011-12. The meeting also decided that Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan chapters of the commission should negotiate with their local donors for support to literacy program and sign proper agreements before initiation of joint ventures.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2011.