Department secretary Sajid Jadoon allegedly surpassed authority in issuing orders. STOCK IMAGE
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Industries and Technical Education department has doled out a six-month allegedly illegal extension to Peshawar Technical Board Controller of Examinations Jamal Akbar Khan despite interviewing numerous candidates for the post.
According to documents available with The Express Tribune, 11 candidates were interviewed on January 2 but Industries and Technical Education Secretary Sajid Jadoon allegedly extended Khan’s stint at the technical board.
The documents state Muhammad Sadiq, Abid Iqbal, Sher Bahadur, Amanullah, Mashal Khan, Ijaz Ahmad, Aurangzaib, Muhammad Ismail, Fazle Hadi, Sardar Shah and Ikramullah Khan were called to interview for the post of controller examinations.
According to the rules of procedure, postings, transfers and extensions of government officials from grade 17 and above are first approved by the department minister and then forwarded to the chief minister for the final verdict. The K-P Board of Technical Education Act 1972 nominated the governor as the controlling authority of board, however, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government amended the act in the Musharraf era, devolving control to the chief minister.
While talking to The Express Tribune, one of the interviewees who requested anonymity said the technical board announced the vacancy in December 2014 and invited applications to be submitted within 10 days. He said the interview panel comprised Human Resources Director Maqsood Bacha, Operations Director Mian Sajid Ali Shah and Monitoring Director Saeed Ahmad.
By the time the interviews were conducted, the department secretary had already ordered Khan’s extension, he added. The interviewee urged Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and the department minister to probe the matter and take action against Secretary Jadoon.
Saeed Ahmed, a member of the interview panel told The Express Tribune the board assigned the officials to conduct interviews and send recommendations.
He said appointments or extensions exceeded their authority and the technical board was responsible for the final decision.
Officials of the said department did not want to go on record about the extension and said the secretary is the only competent authority to speak on the matter. Despite numerous attempts, Jadoon was not available on any of his contact numbers for a comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2015.
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