Rana Tassaddiq Hussain
Islamabad
Junior most officers control NHA affairs as merit and seniority has been completely bulldozed due to placement of officers on pick and choose basis.
Capt (Retd) Mushtaq Ahmad, BS-19 officer of PAS whose services had been requisitioned as Director Admin NHA in year 2017 in his own pay scale is made to look after BS 21 post of Member Administration NHA, two pay grades higher to his substantive rank of appointment in GOP. Although being in BS-19 bulldozing departmental seniority and promotional rights he is being made to work on top of senior most BS-20 general manager of the administration cadre namely Rafiq Ahmed Khan hailing from KPK, currently posted against a non existent post of General Manager (Establishment) North Zone, Peshawar.
Federal Services Tribunal stopped the salary and other financial benefits of Capt (Retd) Mushtaq Ahmad on the basis of these irregularities on 8th June 2020. FST also issued show cause to Capt (R) Mushtaq Ahmad in the said case filed by Asghar Ali Memon VS NHA. The management of NHA is again bypassing the orders of FST and releasing his salaries. The next hearing of the case is due on 20th July 2020.
Saeedullah Yousafzai, BS-19 officer of Pakistan Audit & Accounts Group whose services were requisitioned as Director Audit in 2018 is being made to work as General Manager (Internal Audit) in his own pay and scale on a BS-20 post, interestingly he is also being made to look after BS-21 post of Member (Finance) NHA. The regular grade 20 officer of NHA finance expecting his legitimate right of promotion against the post of Member (Finance) namely Allahdad Khan hailing from Balochistan is being made to work under the above officer much junior to him otherwise. Muhammad Aslam BS-19 regular officer of NHA expecting his legitimate right of placement as General Manager (Internal Audit) is being made to work against a non existent post of General Manager (Accounts) North Zone, Peshawar.
Saeed Ahmed Malik, BS-19 officer of the secretariat group whose services were requisitioned for placement as Director is being made to officiate as Secretary, NHA, on a BS-20 post in his own pay and scale. Interestingly BS-20 regular officer of NHA namely Sajjad Ahmed Khan who was formally promoted against the post of Secretary NHA has not been given a chance to work on the said post due to placement of above titled officer. Need not mention that Saeed Ahmad Malik is being made to work beyond 5 years of maximum deputation period in sheer violation of Establishment Code and GOPs deputation policy.
Yasmin Yousaf, BS 19 officer of Income tax whose services were requisitioned to as Director Accounts have been placed as General Manager (Coordination) on a BS-20 post in her own pay and scale. Mr. Abid Riaz Sindhu a BS-19 regular officer who was expecting his legitimate right of placement against the said post after banging his head against the walls managed to got himself posted on deputation to Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation.
Mr. Taimoor Hassan, BS-18 regular officer of NHA finance is being made to look after the post of General Manager (Revenue) BS-20, in his own pay and scale. Five officers who are much senior to him in experience and hierarchy have been made redundant to maneuver illegal transactions.
Ms. Ansar Anise, BS-18 officer of Pakistan Customs whose services were requisitioned as Deputy Director is being made to work as General Manager (Right of Way) NHA head office, two pay grade higher to her substantive grade in GOP. Shahbaz Ahmed a regular BS-19 officer expecting his legitimate right for placement as GM (RoW) is being made to work on a non existent post of Director Complant Cell NHA head office.
Mariam Mumtaz Butt, BS-18 officer of PAS whose services were requisitioned for the post of Deputy Director (Land) is being made to work as Director (Establishment) NHA Head Office in her own pay and scale. Shoaib Ahmed a regular BS-19 officer promoted against the post of Director Establishment is being made to work against non existent post of Director (Admin) PKM at Lahore.
Shireen Malak Sher, BS-18 officer of OMG whose services were requisitioned as Deputy Director (Coord) is being made to work as Director (Personnel) NHA Head Office. Ishtiaq Ahmed a regular BS-19 officer promoted as Director (Personnel) against the said post is being made to work against non existent post of Director (Admin) North Zone, Peshawar.
Bushra Iqbal Rao, BS-18 officer of PAS whose services were requisitioned as Deputy Director (EALS) is being made to officiate as General Manager (EALS) on a BS-20 post, two pay grade higher to her substantive grade in GoP. Mr. Asim Khan a regular BS-19 law officer expecting his legitimate right for placement on the said post is being made to work as Director (Legal) NHA HQ.
There are more than 26 officers presently working on deputation in NHA. These officers have blocked the chances of promotion and placement of deserving and experienced officers against the said posts. The officers on deputation are often found creating obstacles during routine work due to their affiliation with top bureaucrats.
Supreme Court of Pakistan’s judgment on sending back people on deputation to their parent department may help improve governance in NHA as the ruling not only underlines the issue of nepotism in postings but also highlights the need for improving the human resource management. Such appointments also need to be evaluated in accordance with verdict of the Islamabad High Court in W.P. No. 1841/2011 which was issued to the Government of Pakistan on 20.02.2012 (in NHA service case).
Placement of officers in NHA on deputation, needs to be discouraged because it only increases political interference. By discontinuing said practice, the moral of NHA’s own employees would increase and a sense of ownership would emerge amongst them.
Moreover there are also cases where retired army officers had been hired on lucrative terms as consultant for an indefinite period. They have been involved in creating lot of difficulties in official business to prolong their illegal stay in NHA for advancement of personal gains.
Services of Engineer. Lt. Col. Retd Muhammad Azim were taken on secondment basis from Army Engineeing Corps in 2002 for a period of 2 years.
The said officer retired from Army service in 2004. Without obtaining NOC from defence ministry or fulfilling the mandatory gap of 2 years and without any break the said individual joined NHA as a consultant on lucrative terms in 2004. The said incumbent is continuing to work as Consultant todate without any break (2004-2020).
Despite many audit observations framed by the external auditors duly appointed by the Auditor General of Pakistan regarding illegal extension and procurement of above consultant. For example:-
PDP-371- Irregular/Unauthorised extension in contract period of Senior Procurement & Contract Specialist-Loss of Rs. 7.109 Million.
PDP-375-Irregular/Unauthorised extension in contract period of Senior Procurement & Contract Specialist-Loss of Rs. 19.064 Million.
PDP-381-Irregular/Unauthorised award of consultancy contract and extension beyond the original period of contract- Loss of Rs. 1.6Million.
Services of Lt. Col. Retd Muhammad Azim were further procured as Senior Procurement & Contract Specialist in NHA in 2014. Interestingly the concerned wing i.e. P&CA was kept out of the selection process during the said procurement and an irrelevant wing i.e. Finance which had no role in procurement or contracts finalised the said procurement of above titled consultant at their own without even involving the Administration Wing or Recruitment Section.
Notwithstanding any observation raised by the external auditors Capt (Retd) Sikandar Qayyum, Chairman, NHA through letter No. 1(1)/PS/M(Fin) NHA/20/655/2167 dated 08.01.2020 bulldozing relevant rules and procurement procedures, PPRA Rules granted yet another illegal and unlawful extension to Lt. Col. Retd Muhammad Azim, SP&CS on mere recommendation of Salahuddin, Retiring Member (Finance) on the last day of his service with NHA for obvious reasons.
The question was Chairman competent to approve the said extension? The answer is No he was not empowered to approve.
