Departments, institutes dilly-dallying on SC orders

LAHORE - As part of implementation of the Supreme Court orders, the Punjab government is facing difficulties since it has started the process of compiling lists of the re-employed on contract after superannuation in all the departments and institutions both autonomous and semi-autonomous across the province. The Services and General Administration Department is the focal department, which is procuring lists from all the departments and institutes, and it will submit these to the Supreme Court. According to a source, the department is making hectic efforts since the authorities concerned have been found slacking in their chairs, and resultantly, erratic lists have been finalised so far, as per which recruitments have been made to the tune of hundreds. The major problem is of semi-autonomous institutes, which, on one pretext or the other, have re-employed people, and are bent upon saving them as well, mentioned the source, adding that an SOS call has been made to all the quarters concerned since the lists should not be incomplete at any cost. On Wednesday, Punjab Chief Secretary Nasir Mahmood Khan Khosa directed all the departments concerned to go through the exercise and complete the lists at the earliest. This is in addition to the previous removal of the few 'white-haired person from important slots on February 9 this year, while this process can be pretty long and wearisome, an officer said on the condition of anonymity, while observing that the PML-N is also guilty of the same crime, which was committed by the PML-Qs previous provincial political dispensation. On April 10, 2008, the present government dismissed all such officers and officials, but after this despite resistance from certain quarters to the likes of the then secretary of Services and General Administration Department, Fawad Hasan Fawad it blatantly violated its own principles and recruited hundreds in different departments and institutions, especially education, he opined. Another officer was of the view that yet-to-be-removed officers had enjoyed perks and privileges for around three years so far, and the PML-N would sent them home to come out clean, and act as custodian of the Supreme Court decisions. On the other hand, sources have revealed that the government is facing huge problems in finalising the lists since officials at institutions and departments are selective in enlisting names, and in quite a large number of cases, only adversaries are being nominated, while friends are being protected. In only the Higher Education Department, cases of more than 200 have come to surface, and leading universities of the provinces have been found violating the reemployment rules. The source mentioned a few examples in this regard. In the University of Engineering and Technology, more than 50 persons have been re-employed, but the University was yet to file complete list. The Government College University has 13 re-employed persons. The same is the case with the University of Education, and its glaring examples are of Registrar Ch Bashir, Controller Examinations Shaban Bhatti, Director Okara Campus Dr Muhammad Shafique, Director Division of Arts and Social Sciences Lahore Muzaffar Abbas and Director Multan Campus Dr Zahoor. About the Lahore College University, he mentioned that it had re-employed 18 females, which also included Registrar of the University Shaista Wyne, who had been pretty influential, and staying illegally in the seat despite the expiry of her tenure, besides retiring on February 6, 2009. It is a classic example of violation of rules at the highest level, which can be seen replicated in other institutes as well. Wyne has been adamantly continuing working as Registrar of the University, simply on the pretext that the late governor Salmaan Taseer allowed her to work till the selection/appointment of a regular incumbent through a search committee, which was obviously meant never to be materialised. The source further added that this order of appointment was signed in total disregard to the proposals of Secretary Higher Education Department and recommendation of the Chief Minister Punjab, which neither suggested her continuation nor reemployment for unlimited time. Since then neither the post has been advertised by the University nor any other serving senior faculty member being given opportunity to rise to this important position allegedly by famous troika of the University. This is how Shaista Wayne is enjoying all perks attached to the position despite her superannuation three years back, which is just a solitary example to quote, while the list can be pretty long, concluded the source.