LAHORE - The Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology and Tourism department is hiring services of officials on very high packages for its Project Management Unit (PMU), The Nation has learnt.
A meeting of the selection board constituted by CM Shehbaz Sharif was held on February 21st for considering matters relating to selection of staff for the PMU, sources in the department told The Nation on Friday.
The Finance department, in July 2016, allowed the selection board to complete the hiring process of the personnel on market based salaries or as per the MP Scales. The department also directed the board to evaluate the recruitment, award of contracts, extension etc in the cases of market based salary being offered to those. The board will forward its recommendations to the CM Punjab for final approval, the department had then directed.
As per documents also available with The Nation, the proposed salary for the Project Director (PD) will be Rs600,000 per month, while Rs300,000 for Deputy PD, Rs150,000 for APDs.
There are six seats of APD for Engineering, Horticulture to support the DPD. One APD will be appointed to assist the PD on the same package. Sub-engineers with the APDs will also be appointed with Rs100,000 salary per month.
Moreover, Rs52.4 million will be spent for establishment, Rs25.25m for vehicles, and Rs2.87m for equipment, while miscellaneous expenses are Rs32.6m, pushing the total cost to Rs113.124 million.
During 2015, the CM Punjab had constituted as selection board to examine all the cases where appointments were to be made on MP Scales or market based salaries. The board comprised minister in-charge, secretary of the administrative department, secretaries to the S&GAD, Regulation, and additional finance secretary as members. Another committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary was also constituted to look into the cases of revised MP scales. Its members were secretaries Services, Regulation, Finance and the administrative secretary of the defragment.
On February 18 this year, the finance department agreed to create 69 seats in the PMU Sports Board including the PD, DPD, APD and others.
Former MNA Hanif Abbasi, who heads a provincial steering committee, also called on the CM in January for establishment of playfields and play grounds in different districts of the province.
CM Shehbaz, in January, had directed to hold different sports competitions in the province. He also directed the authorities to start “Khadim-e-Punjab Sports Talent Hunt Programme”.
Besides speeding up the project of construction of 92 cricket and playgrounds throughout the province, the CM had also asked the authorities to make arrangements for floodlight facilities in newly constructed cricket grounds for holding tournaments at night.