MoST Minister removes DG PSQCA after unlawful DPC

ISLAMABAD: While taking notice of the unlawful departmental promotions being held at Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), an attached department of Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the minister of MoST has removed the head of the authority with immediate effect.

In its report published on September 10, Pakistan Today had reported that the PSQCA was holding DPC for employees of BS-1-16 and BS-18 to 19 of PSQCA Regular Employees as per Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority, Service Regulations, 2015 (SRO 419 (1)12015, despite various shortcomings and legal issues.

As per an official, Federal Minister MOST Agha Hassan Baloch, was also kept in dark by the PSQCA as, when he noticed the process of unlawful DPC being held at the ministry, he, as chairman of the board of the authority, issued immediate order of relieving the Director General PSQCA from his post. As per insiders, the order/notice was served to the DG, who is holding the acting/additional charge since December 2021, during the DPC at the ministry on Friday.

The minister, as per insiders, may also take action against the acting Secretary PSQCA Umar Kazi, who, as member of the DPC, was also playing an active role in the entire unlawful process.

However, the sources informed, the acting DG PSQCA, Syed Ataur Rehman PAS/BS-21), who is also an additional Secretary MoST, continued the DPC and finalizing minutes of the meeting despite being served the order officially. When contacted he denied commenting on the issue saying since he was heading the DPC, he cannot reply to queries. Though he initially tried to defend his act by denying his removal, soon he suggested approaching Secretary MoST for official reply. Secretary MoST Ghulam Muhammad Memon, did not reply to queries despite noticing the queries shared with him via WhatsApp.

Earlier it was reported by Pakistan Today that, as per the court order and rules set by the establishment division, an officer holding the acting charge of head of the government organization cannot make policy decisions which includes appointments, promotions etc.

MoST has not been able to fill the post of Director General (DG) PSQCA since the retirement of DG Abdul Aleem Memon on September 25, 2021. As per legal experts even the Additional Charge of DG PSQCA is like a temporary arrangement to cater for the day to day affairs of the organization on an honorary basis.

An office memorandum of the Establishment Division dated March 20, 2020 on the subject of exercise of administrative/ financial powers while holding a look after charge, says the offices entrusted with look after charge are not empowered to take policy decisions. Appointments and promotions do not fall in the category of the day to day business of the organization.

Interestingly, the ministry last week had completed DPC of employees of PSQCA in Karachi despite legal and technical issues linked with the process. The ministry has assigned Secretary PSQCA Umar Kazi, Ali Bukhsh, a Director PSQCA and a section officer of MoST to hold the DPC in Karachi. Later, the acting DG PSQCA tried to hold the DPC for BS-18 and BS 19 at the ministry in Islamabad on Friday. The acting DG PSQCA and others were apparently in a hurry to complete the process before a regular DG takes charge of the authority.

Interestingly, as per documents, the DPC list also included those employees against whom the MoST was directed to take disciplinary action following a departmental fact finding report about serious irregularities and violation of rules. The MoST fact finding committee’s report in 2014 revealed massive irregularities in the appointments under ‘package Aghaz-e-Haqooq Balochistan’ in PSQCA.

Furthermore, as per documents, those employees of PSQCA (of BS-19) who were promoted in 2020, have also been included in the list for DPC, clearly indicating that they even have not completed the length of services to be eligible for next promotion.

As per documents, MoST by holding DPC and initiating recruitment process, was also violating the PSQCA’s own service rules of 2015, under which only two component centers existed in the authority whereas the seniority list of regular employees was finalized on the basis of other centers which do not exist after merger into the authority.

Apart from the violation of service rules 2015, the ministry was also ready to advertise 97 posts in PSQCA  while dishonoring a Sindh High Court’s verdict regarding regularization of at least 34 employees (of BS 16 and BS 17) of various projects of PSQCA as the list prepared for advertisement also included these posts.

MoST on December 21, 2021, assigned the additional charge of the post of Director General PSQCA to Syed Ata-ur-Rehman PAS/BS-21) an additional Secretary MoST initially for a period of three months as the ministry had advertised the post of DG PSQCA in MP-I scale. The acting charge to the additional secretary has not been extended officially.

 

Ghulam Abbas
Ghulam Abbas
The writer is a member of the staff at the Islamabad Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected]

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