Despite ban: PM appoints scion of Bilour family to Planning Commission
His job is to work out education and social welfare plans but he has no experience.
Aziz Ahmed Bilour. PHOTO: PID/ FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Flouting an Election Commission ban, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has appointed Aziz Ahmad Bilour, the younger brother of former Railways Minister Ghulam Bilour, as a member of the social sector of the Planning Commission.
Bilour’s appointment orders were one of many instructions given on the last day of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government. They are thus viewed by many as a desperate attempt by the now former administration to install its cronies to lucrative positions. The youngest Bilour has been given the job for one year.
But his paperwork is so vague that the government has not even mentioned his pay scale in the notification. Unlike other members of the Planning Commission, Bilour has not been given a management pay scale. The monthly salary of an MP-1 is Rs430,000.
All of this was done by PM Ashraf and the Establishment Division by keeping the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman, Dr Nadeemul Haque, and secretary, Zafar Hasan Tarar, in the dark, said a senior planning official. He added that the Planning Division had not even asked for Bilour to be given the job.
The way in which the PM has thus used his special powers has further convinced many to review them as they can be used against the spirit of democracy, say planning officials.
Despite the orders of appointment, the commission did not allow Bilour to take charge of the post out of fear of the Supreme Court noticing, added officials. However, Bilour did come to office on Monday. His first demand was for a chauffeur-driven official car, according to a staffer in the planning commission’s administration.
Aziz Ahmed Bilour is the youngest of the Bilour brothers and a retired federal secretary. He has no previous experience in the social sector. He has served mostly on postings in the Federal Board of Revenue, with his last assignment being federal secretary to the ministry of industries.
When contacted by The Express Tribune, Bilour confirmed that he had been appointed as a member of the social sector. But he was not able to give any examples of job experience in the social sector. He is about 60 years old and has a degree in political science and defence and strategic studies.
The appointment of bureaucrats to posts meant for technocrats and field experts is a clear deviation from the original idea of creating member posts in the Planning Commission, argued Shaukat Hameed, who used to work in the office Bilour has joined. In general, bureaucrats are good at doing the paperwork of sending requests for resources (as in moving summaries), he said. But they do not understand the dynamics of development.
The person who gets the post of member, social sector is responsible for making plans for the promotion of education, health and social welfare, said Hameed, who added that “closed-mind bureaucrats are not fit for such jobs.”
This is not the first time that a bureaucrat has been brought to a position meant for field experts. Earlier on, the federal government appointed former federal secretary Javed Malik as a member of the food and agriculture section of the Planning Commission. This was seen as a way of rewarding him for serving the prime minister by approving billions of rupees in development schemes.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.
Flouting an Election Commission ban, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has appointed Aziz Ahmad Bilour, the younger brother of former Railways Minister Ghulam Bilour, as a member of the social sector of the Planning Commission.
Bilour’s appointment orders were one of many instructions given on the last day of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government. They are thus viewed by many as a desperate attempt by the now former administration to install its cronies to lucrative positions. The youngest Bilour has been given the job for one year.
But his paperwork is so vague that the government has not even mentioned his pay scale in the notification. Unlike other members of the Planning Commission, Bilour has not been given a management pay scale. The monthly salary of an MP-1 is Rs430,000.
All of this was done by PM Ashraf and the Establishment Division by keeping the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman, Dr Nadeemul Haque, and secretary, Zafar Hasan Tarar, in the dark, said a senior planning official. He added that the Planning Division had not even asked for Bilour to be given the job.
The way in which the PM has thus used his special powers has further convinced many to review them as they can be used against the spirit of democracy, say planning officials.
Despite the orders of appointment, the commission did not allow Bilour to take charge of the post out of fear of the Supreme Court noticing, added officials. However, Bilour did come to office on Monday. His first demand was for a chauffeur-driven official car, according to a staffer in the planning commission’s administration.
Aziz Ahmed Bilour is the youngest of the Bilour brothers and a retired federal secretary. He has no previous experience in the social sector. He has served mostly on postings in the Federal Board of Revenue, with his last assignment being federal secretary to the ministry of industries.
When contacted by The Express Tribune, Bilour confirmed that he had been appointed as a member of the social sector. But he was not able to give any examples of job experience in the social sector. He is about 60 years old and has a degree in political science and defence and strategic studies.
The appointment of bureaucrats to posts meant for technocrats and field experts is a clear deviation from the original idea of creating member posts in the Planning Commission, argued Shaukat Hameed, who used to work in the office Bilour has joined. In general, bureaucrats are good at doing the paperwork of sending requests for resources (as in moving summaries), he said. But they do not understand the dynamics of development.
The person who gets the post of member, social sector is responsible for making plans for the promotion of education, health and social welfare, said Hameed, who added that “closed-mind bureaucrats are not fit for such jobs.”
This is not the first time that a bureaucrat has been brought to a position meant for field experts. Earlier on, the federal government appointed former federal secretary Javed Malik as a member of the food and agriculture section of the Planning Commission. This was seen as a way of rewarding him for serving the prime minister by approving billions of rupees in development schemes.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2013.