Academic question : Rescue-1122 director general accused of violating rules

Home Dept, Rizwan Naseer at loggerheads over appointment of BS-20 post.

LAHORE:

The Home Department and the Punjab Emergency Service (PES) director general (DG) have locked horns over which office should recruit a principal for the Emergency Service Academy (ESA), The Express Tribune has learnt.

They have both carried advertisements inviting applications for the post in grade 20.

“Being an autonomous body of Home Department, the PES is not authorised to invite applications for the post,” a Home Department official said requesting anonymity.

The Home Department after getting approval of the chief minister in July had notified the new post with a certain eligibility criteria, said the official.

It had constituted a four-member committee, headed by the chief secretary, to select the candidate. The home secretary, the services and general administration secretary and the PES director general were its other members.

The department advertised the post on August 8 inviting applications. The candidates were required to be 45-50 years old, have a master’s degree in emergency service/disaster management/medical science with 15 years’ experience including five years as head of a government institution.

The candidates were asked to send their applications until August 25 to the home secretary.

PES DG Rizwan Naseer then published an advertisement on August 18 changing the eligibility criteria without the approval of the chief minister and the Home department – the administrative department for the PES.

Naseer also changed the eligibility criteria and the pay package, fixing the maximum age at 55, salary equal to a BS-20 officer plus project allowance and changing the job title from ‘principal’ to ‘commandant’.

He set a September 8 deadline for the submission of applications to the Punjab Emergency Service Human Resource Wing.

On August, 20, the Home Department wrote to the PES DG asking him to withdraw the advertisement as he was not the competent authority advertise the post. The DG refused.

Instead, he wrote a letter to the department observing that it had published the ad in only two newspapers which he said was violation of the recruitment policy. He also objected to the age limit and restricting the recruitment to the provincial level.

“Naseer told the special secretary the Home Department advertisement should be withdrawn for being ambiguous. He also requested the department to coordinate with the PES on matters related to it,” the official said.

The Home Department has received three applications and the PES 15. The PES has declared Naseer eligible for the post after the DG himself applied for the new job.

The Home Department has objected pointing out a conflict of interest in Naseer being a member of the recruitment committee as well as an applicant.

“The Home Department had finalised the recruitment policy on Naseer’s recommendation... now there is a conflict of interest for the new office,” said a Home Department officer in grade 19.

In September, the Home Department recommended that the chief minister form an independent committee, headed by the Home Department special secretary, to review the eligibility criteria and the recruitment process.

Speaking on behalf of Naseer, a PES spokesperson said the PES director general had published the advertisement in view of increasing workload. He said that Rescue-1122 had been expanded to 36 districts in the province and it had become difficult for the director general to run its affairs as well as the academy.

The spokesperson refused to comment when asked if Naseer was authorised to carry the advertisement, and if he had invited a conflict of interest by changing the eligibility criteria.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2014.