Mazharul Haq says he is ready to face allegations

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday authorised an inquiry against senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Pir Mazharul Haq, ex-minister for education Sindh, for hiring tens of thousands of teachers in Sindh Education Department.
Pir Mazharul Haq in his statement issued to media admitted that the Education Department was over-staffed during his tenure but not by him but the government officials against whom he had lodged complaints officially.
The NAB claims that the PPP leader had appointed some 13,000 teachers in the department which has caused a loss of around Rs4 to 6 billion on the national exchequer.
The News has learnt that at least 20,000 persons were illegally inducted in Sindh Education Department as teachers, clerks, assistants and computer operators while on the other hand some 15,000 teachers, ranging from primary to higher secondary section, got illegal promotions.
Official figures of the department suggest that there are more than 10,000 ghost teachers who are not performing their duties and remain absent because many are working in other government and private departments and some of them are even living abroad.
To cope with these challenges, the Sindh Education Department has introduced biometric system to separate the fake employees and special scrutiny committees have also been formed in this regard.
The Accountant General Sindh has also sent a letter to Sindh Education Department along with the list of 794 teachers of district Qamabar Shahdadkot which according to AG Sindh got illegal promotions.
An officer working on an important position of Sindh Education Department on the condition of anonymity told The News that unfortunately these hundreds of fake employees who were inducted in the Education Department illegally include mostly of teachers. The sources said that these people were inducted in the system with the help of corrupt mafia and due to faults in the system. They are not only getting hefty salaries but are also enjoying seniority because they have been inducted with fake backdated orders which has given them service record of at least five to 10 years.
This phenomenon of appointment of fake teachers was on the peak in last Pakistan People’s Party government, when Senior PPP leader Pir Mazhar was the Sindh education minister, the sources added.
“The department is taking action against all illegalities, ghost teachers, fake employees and illegally promoted teachers but it is difficult task to take action against those teachers who are working in media organisations as journalists and having important positions,” said the source.
Dr Fazal Pechuho, Secretary Sindh Education Department, when contacted, said, “It is a fact that the Education Department is under huge financial burden due to these fake employees and illegally promoted teachers and to get rid of these black sheep the department has taken stern steps like formation of biometric system and scrutiny committees.”
Pechuho added that at this stage it is difficult to say that how much fake persons have been inducted in the department and how many got illegal promotions but the department has realised the problem and on his directions, sophisticated biometric system has been introduced and till date near 30 percent teachers and ministerial staff has been verified and the process will be continued till getting rid of all ghost teachers.
On the other hand, a Special Scrutiny Committee comprising Special Secretary Aalia Shah, Additional Secretary Khadim Channa, Deputy Secretary Dadlo Zuhrani, Abdul Qadeer Shaeikh, Deputy Accountant General Sindh and Member Chief Minister Inspection Team Nazeer Ahmed Dhoon has been formed to examine the fake promotions and in this regard, record of 794 teachers of district Qambar Shahdadkot is under assessment and till date some 50 plus teachers have been found illegally promoted. Replying to a question, Pechuho said that strict action will be taken against these illegally appointed teachers and against those who got illegal promotions.
Additional Secretary Education Khadim Channa told The News, “In this entire process of removing illegally appointed and ghost teachers from the biggest department of Sindh, one positive thing is that Government School Teachers Association (GSTA) has assured that the association will not support any ghost teacher, fake employee or illegally promoted teacher.”
On the other hand, Pir Mazharul Haq in his statement over NAB’s inquiry against him said that Nawaz Sharif government framed four references against him in the past but he turned out innocent and this will happened in the instant case too. He said it was a truth that the Education Department was over-staffed but he had timely reported this to the chief minister Sindh and the government officers involved thereof were suspended and are facing inquiries. He said that only a disgraced person could sell jobs. He maintained that he is not running away from the country and will face all the allegations.