PAC asks Establishment Division to submit a report
on irregular appointments.
The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has claimed the former secretary finance and special secretary finance have been re-employed in violation of rules and regulations.
In a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Wednesday, AGP Akhtar Buland Rana maintained that financial mismanagement in the finance ministry had reached its peak due to the government’s policy of running the ministry through retired bureaucrats.
He told the committee that former secretary finance Abdul Wajid Rana had been appointed as a ‘Principal Officer’ – a post which did not exist previously – in the ministry after his retirement. The government has also granted Wajid the same responsibilities and powers as the secretary finance, he added.
Similarly, the government re-employed former special secretary finance Rana Assad Amin as an adviser to the finance ministry – again, a new post created to accommodate a retired bureaucrat.
When PAC Chairperson Nadeem Afzal Chan inquired whether the appointments were in line with regulations, the AGP replied, “the rules do not allow any such appointments.”
“When the finance ministry is run in such a manner what will happen to the country”, said AGP Rana.
He did not clarify, however, whether the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) was paying salaries to both the officials. In cases, where people are hired against regulations, the AGPR either blocks their salaries or the auditors frame audit objections to seek the recovery of the amount paid to them through salaries and other perks.
Following the revelation, the PAC asked the Establishment Division to submit a report regarding irregular appointments in a week.
The information revealed by the AGP underscores the government’s unannounced policy of accommodating retired officials who served its interests in any way during their tenure. Former secretary finance Wajid, for instance, is accused of sanctioning billions of rupees under government directives contrary to prudent financial management.
The government has also recently re-employed former secretary planning Javed Malik as member agriculture in the Planning Commission. Meanwhile, former secretary water and power Imtiaz Kazi has been hired as an adviser to the federal ombudsman, former Water and Power Development Authority chairman Shakil Durrani has been hired as an adviser on the Diamer-Bhasha dam project and former member inland revenue (IR) of the Federal Board of Revenue Asrar Raouf has been re-employed as the board’s senior member IR.
According to insiders, the re-employment of retired bureaucrats either serves as reward for serving government interests or allows the rulers to ensure their own interests unimpeded. They added that the AGP’s assertion regarding the finance ministry’s deteriorating performance was not baseless and many decisions in the ministry were taken based on personal considerations.
Reports of a rift between Federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and recently appointed Minister of State for Finance Saleem Mandviwalla have also surfaced. According to sources, the government appointed Mandviwalla to keep a check on Shaikh after the latter was ‘unable to deliver’.
The finance ministry spokesperson was unavailable for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2013.
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Fire all re-hired retired bureaucrats. as their re-hiring is against the rules and law