Over merit: Recruitment of 796 prison warders cancelled

Insiders say U-turn taken as selection did not include favoured candidates.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has revoked the recent recruitment of prison warders across the province.

A notification issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs department on Monday stated the recruitment of almost 800 warders was revoked over irregularities. “The K-P government has taken notice of irregularities in the hiring of 796 prison warders. The government has termed the recruitment against the law and has cancelled it,” the notification read.

In total, 796 prison warders had been recruited last month, however, soon after, senior officials and political figures raised objections. Officials privy to the hiring process said the recruitment was cancelled following immense political pressure. They, however, maintained the recruitment was based on merit.

“The selection panel had refused to hire men named by bureaucrats and politicians, some from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,” an official had told The Express Tribune earlier, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. He said the recruitment was not made through the National Testing Service or the Education Testing and Evaluation Agency as both those processes took time.

“No one was ready to take responsibility of any attack on prisons during the recruitment process,” the official had said. Instead, he added, the jail warders were recruited under Pakistan Prison Rules upon directions issued by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. Special Secretary Home Siraj Khan could not be reached despite several attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2015.