Disbanding a redundant unit

No notification issued yet for disbanding Provincial Information and Analysis Unit despite CM approving a summary.

LAHORE: The Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) has not yet issued a notification disbanding the Provincial Information and Analysis Unit (PIAU) despite the chief minister approving a summary in this regard on September 20.

According to the rules of business, it is mandatory to notify the relevant department within one or two days after the approval of the summary, an official, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune. The S&GAD’s failure to issue a notification would enable the officials posted in the unit to draw the higher salaries for a little longer, the official said.

Several irregularities in appointments to the unit its working were highlighted by the media after which the chief minister referred to a committee to review the justification for the unit.

The committee, in its recommendations, proposed that the unit be closed down because the Information Technology Board was performing essentially the same tasks as the PIAU. The committee further concluded that the unit was putting a huge financial burden on the provincial kitty.

The Punjab government established the PIAU in the Implementation and Coordination Wing of the S&GAD in September 2009, under the direct supervision of the chief secretary. It was to serve as a window on governance for the chief minister and the chief secretary to oversee and judge the performance of various departments.

In October, a post for a director (a BS-20 officer) and two for additional directors (in BS-19) were created in the unit. The director was offered Rs200,000 and the additional director Rs160,000 in addition to basic pay. Posts for an information specialist, a management specialist, a police specialist, a systems analyst in BS-17 and 18 and nine others were also created in unit. In December, the S&GAD posted three District Management Group officers, Rashid Mehmood, who was then working as I&C secretary as the director; and Najam Ahmed Shah, the I&C additional secretary and Khalid Sher Dil, an OSD as additional directors.

Najam Ahmed Shah and Khalid Sher Dil were posted in the Disaster Management Authority a month ago. Rashid Mehmood, who relinquished the additional charge of I&C secretary after Syed Mubashar Raza took over, is still serving as the PIAU director.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2010.