Govt defies act, appoints consultant as administrator

The law does not allow consultants to be made administrators but the government continues to hire such people.

KARACHI: In violation of the Sindh Local Government Bill 2010, the provincial government has appointed a consultant as the administrator for Keamari Town.

Recently, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah appointed Zubair Mughal as a consultant for local bodies on a year-long contract. Soon after his appointment, minister for local bodies Agha Siraj Durrani submitted a summary to the government, in which he recommended Mughal for the position of Keamari Town administrator. An official notification was issued for this selection and Mughal assumed his new office.

A retired special secretary in the health department, Captain Majid, was also hired as a consultant.

More than two dozen such appointments have been made recently. The government has yet to table amendments to the act in the Sindh Assembly and justify the selection.

The second Sindh Local Government Amendment Ordinance 2010 was unanimously passed in the assembly. According to the bill, only civil servants and local government officials can be appointed administrators of towns and talukas.

The bill was later signed by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan after much deliberation and arguments between coalition partners. Dr Khan consulted the local bodies and law departments before he signed the bill into an act.

Even though the act prohibits the appointment of consultants as administrators, the government continues to hire people with such qualifications.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2010.