Irregularities in education dept: Private body demands action against illegal appointment

Fake appointments in Karachi were earlier confirmed by an inquiry committee.

KARACHI:

Pir Mazharul Haq’s five-year tenure as the Sindh Minister for Education and Literacy was marred with over 30,000 illegal appointments in the provincial education department, according to Aneesur Rehman, convener of the Taleem Bachao Action Committee.

The committee is a private body which maintains surveillance over the provincial education department. Rehman, while talking to The Express Tribune on Saturday, said that around 9,000 of the total appointments were made in Karachi in clear violation of the government rules and regulations.



Earlier in July, The Express Tribune had published a report in which the fake appointments in Karachi were confirmed by an inquiry committee formed by the education department’s additional chief secretary, Dr Fazlullah Pechuho. “The safest estimate is over 9,300 illegal appointments that can be confirmed through the record of Civil Surgeon Services Hospital, which had issued fitness certificates to the recipients of offer letters,” stated the four-member committee’s report, which was headed by the education department’s special secretary, Shafiq Mahesar.

The committee recommended initiation of criminal cases against at least 12 officials involved with further inquiries to be carried out by the National Accountability Bureau. Meanwhile, the Karachi-centric appointments were said to be revoked.



The remaining 21,000 people who were illegally posted in 22 other districts of the province were still a matter of concern for Rehman. “The gross irregularities in the remaining 22 districts seem to have been completely disregarded and appointed persons are paid regular salaries through the national exchequer,” he added.

Though the department’s additional chief secretary had formed another inquiry committee in September to probe into the illegal appointment across the province, Rehman said that committee had made no headway despite the passage of a month.

“Residents of the province have yet to see any practical action against the officials involved in this multi-billion corruption case,” he said. “Thousands of illegal appointments were made in collusion with the education department’s officials, who took hefty sums in return and later pulled the strings for issuance of salaries to their appointed personnel.”

Former education minister Pir Mazhar declared the allegations preposterous when contacted by The Express Tribune. “I ensured transparency in all the appointments on teaching and non-teaching posts through third-party validation,” he said. “Involvement of some of the department’s officials in gross irregularities was not in my knowledge. If it is established with proof, they should be taken to task.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2013.