Fake appointments: 300 govt posts allegedly doled out among favourites
Four candidates take officials to court against merit violations
KARACHI:
Every other day, politicians in power come out with statements about providing jobs to thousands of people. But if statements submitted in the Sindh High Court’s Larkana bench are to be believed, the jobs have mostly been offered to undeserving candidates and that too on the basis of a fake appointment lists.
The case stems from the appointment of 300 assistants, stenographers, clerks, drivers and peons in different provincial departments. The alleged violation of merit in the recruitment process compelled four candidates, who topped the merit list, to go to court.
The posts were advertised in newspapers in April 2011. In response, 7,548 candidates applied, out of which 4,644 took the written test while 2,713 candidates turned up for their interviews. The examination was held in June and the candidates were interviewed in October last year.
Test and interviews were taken by a recruitment committee formed by the Sindh government. The committee members - SM Tayyab, Nazeer Ahmed Dhoon, Shamsuddin Shaikh and Muhammad Arshad - were all officials of the Sindh services, general administration and coordination department. The appointment process began in January 2012 and continued for about six months.
The allegations have fuelled an intense debate among senior bureaucrats and the members of the recruitment committee, with one of the members publicly admitting merit has been violated in recruitment of “favourites”.
“Soon after I interviewed and finalised the merit list of candidates, I was asked to sign over a modified list,” deposed Nazir Ahmed Dhoon, former deputy secretary of the services, general administration and coordination department before the high court bench. “When I refused, I was transferred.”
The officer says he interviewed candidates from Larkana, Qamber, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore and handed over the final merit list to the relevant office. “I have now come to know that most of the qualified candidates were denied jobs,” he added.
Instead of recruiting qualified candidates, a false and fabricated list was sent by the chief minister secretariat while rest of the jobs were later sold out by the recruitment committee members, alleged Azhar Ali Pirzado, one of the petitioners, who had applied for the post of assistant (BSP 14). “I will prove the offer letters have been issued to candidates who neither appeared in the written test nor the interview,” he stated in his petition.
“Fifty per cent jobs were given to the blue-eyed boys of different ministers and MPAs,” alleged another petitioner, Habib Rehman Leghari. “We request the court to order the officials to present the merit list to prove who appeared in the final interview.”
In his petition, Amjad Lashari, another candidate who was deprived of the job despite qualifying the interview, accused the services department officials of accepting money from unqualified candidates to give them their appointment letters.
For their part, all government officials, except Nazeer Ahmed Dhoon, have vehemently denied the allegations, but the case has been pending in the Sindh High Court’s Larkana circuit bench since April as the respondents are reluctant to submit the final merit list. “Only deserving candidates who topped the merit criteria have been selected in a transparent manner,” their statement reads. SM Tayyab, the additional services secretary, also refutes the allegations. “All people were appointed on merit. We are busy in other assignments and will present the list in court soon,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2012.
Every other day, politicians in power come out with statements about providing jobs to thousands of people. But if statements submitted in the Sindh High Court’s Larkana bench are to be believed, the jobs have mostly been offered to undeserving candidates and that too on the basis of a fake appointment lists.
The case stems from the appointment of 300 assistants, stenographers, clerks, drivers and peons in different provincial departments. The alleged violation of merit in the recruitment process compelled four candidates, who topped the merit list, to go to court.
The posts were advertised in newspapers in April 2011. In response, 7,548 candidates applied, out of which 4,644 took the written test while 2,713 candidates turned up for their interviews. The examination was held in June and the candidates were interviewed in October last year.
Test and interviews were taken by a recruitment committee formed by the Sindh government. The committee members - SM Tayyab, Nazeer Ahmed Dhoon, Shamsuddin Shaikh and Muhammad Arshad - were all officials of the Sindh services, general administration and coordination department. The appointment process began in January 2012 and continued for about six months.
The allegations have fuelled an intense debate among senior bureaucrats and the members of the recruitment committee, with one of the members publicly admitting merit has been violated in recruitment of “favourites”.
“Soon after I interviewed and finalised the merit list of candidates, I was asked to sign over a modified list,” deposed Nazir Ahmed Dhoon, former deputy secretary of the services, general administration and coordination department before the high court bench. “When I refused, I was transferred.”
The officer says he interviewed candidates from Larkana, Qamber, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore and handed over the final merit list to the relevant office. “I have now come to know that most of the qualified candidates were denied jobs,” he added.
Instead of recruiting qualified candidates, a false and fabricated list was sent by the chief minister secretariat while rest of the jobs were later sold out by the recruitment committee members, alleged Azhar Ali Pirzado, one of the petitioners, who had applied for the post of assistant (BSP 14). “I will prove the offer letters have been issued to candidates who neither appeared in the written test nor the interview,” he stated in his petition.
“Fifty per cent jobs were given to the blue-eyed boys of different ministers and MPAs,” alleged another petitioner, Habib Rehman Leghari. “We request the court to order the officials to present the merit list to prove who appeared in the final interview.”
In his petition, Amjad Lashari, another candidate who was deprived of the job despite qualifying the interview, accused the services department officials of accepting money from unqualified candidates to give them their appointment letters.
For their part, all government officials, except Nazeer Ahmed Dhoon, have vehemently denied the allegations, but the case has been pending in the Sindh High Court’s Larkana circuit bench since April as the respondents are reluctant to submit the final merit list. “Only deserving candidates who topped the merit criteria have been selected in a transparent manner,” their statement reads. SM Tayyab, the additional services secretary, also refutes the allegations. “All people were appointed on merit. We are busy in other assignments and will present the list in court soon,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2012.