Nepotism and cronyism: Press Information Department gave out hundreds of jobs illegally

Appointments made in grades 1 to 15 without advertisement.

LAHORE:

The Press Information Department has made hundreds of appointments in grades 1 to 15 since the turn of the century in violation of several rules, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The appointments were made without advertisement and without the candidates being vetted by a selection board, both of which are mandatory for government hiring.

Some were appointed against leave vacancies – that is, to fill in for employees who were on leave – and then given regular or contractual jobs in violation of procedure.

Sources in the Press Information Department said that the appointments were made by bureaucrats in order to dole out favours to friends and family or on the instructions of politicians in government.

The illegal hires include 62 lower division clerks, at least 100 naib qasids, at least 10 steno typists and 35 drivers, as well as assistants, photo printers and watchmen. Some people were even hired to do jobs rendered obsolete by technology. They include dark room attendants, photo-finishers, grazers-cum-trimmers and cutters hired in 2009, jobs which had been made redundant by digital cameras.

The appointments were approved by the principal information officer, who heads the PID.

PID officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the irregularities had been noticed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, but no action had been taken.

The ministry issued a circular in February 2009, available with The Express Tribune, stating: “Strict disciplinary action will be taken against the head of the department in case of any violation of government recruitment rules and regulations.” Three years later, no such action has been taken

Irregularities

The department has also been transferring head office posts from one station to another in order to accommodate some employees. For example, an upper division clerk (BPS-9) post was transferred from Faisalabad to Islamabad on March 27, 2012, and a naib qasid post (BPS-1) was transferred from Islamabad to Faisalabad on October 1, 2011.

According to Rule 11 of the Civil Servants (Appointment and Transfer) Rules 1973, “Initial appointments to posts in basic pay scale 1 to 15 and equivalent shall be made on the recommendations of the departmental selection committee after the vacancies have been advertised in newspapers.”

But since April 24, 2000, the PID has never issued an advertisement inviting applications for jobs.

Appointees to vacancies created because of officials going on leave cannot be transferred or regularised, but this rule has been repeatedly violated. Shahid Adnan Shah was appointed as a lower division clerk while Abdul Hafeez was on 120 days leave. He was later transferred from Peshawar to Lahore and appointed on a temporary basis.

Muhammad Imran and Shahid Adnan were appointed on leave vacancies against the rules when Yousaf Bhatti and Mohammad Riaz proceeded on leave preparatory to retirement in 2010. The Accountant General’s Office later refused to pay their salaries because their appointments were illegal, but the department later managed to get approval from the Establishment Division in Islamabad for the release of their salaries.

PID Director General Ijaz Hussain confirmed that there were still some redundant posts in the department. He said there is no longer any dark room work at the PID, but the staff working in the section had been accommodated in other sections.

About the non-advertisement of posts, he said he was not aware about that and it was a question for the advertisement director. Director (Advertisement) Asim Khichi said he also knew nothing about it.

This correspondent tried to contact PID Principal Information Officer SM Imran Gardezi for two days on his official phones and personal mobile number but he was unavailable for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2013.