PFA officials, with expired contracts,using raid, arrest powers

LAHORE
Almost half of the staff of Punjab Food Authority (PFA) is working illegally as their contracts have expired and some officials are still using complete magisterial powers by carrying out raids and issuing arrest orders.
Sources in the authority revealed that five Food Safety Officers namely Farah Ather (Gulberg Town), Saba Nasir (Samanabad Town), Fareeha Anwar (Shalimar Town), Ayaz Khurram (Aziz Bhatti and Wagah Town) and Yasir Arafat (Nishtar Town) are among the 39 staff members of the authority whose contracts expired last month.
Sources said these officers were in Grade 17 and despite expiry of their contracts they were enjoying full powers. Sources said the five Food Safety Officers Farah Ather, Fareeha Anwar and Saba Nasir were appointed on June 29, 2012 while Yasir Arafat and Ayaz Khurram were appointed on June 28, 2012 for three years.
Other officers and staff members whose contracts had expired and they were still working included three officers of Grade 16, 13 officials in Grade 14, two in Grade 12, one in Grade 05, two in Grade 04 and 13 in Grade 01. The names and designations of these officers and officials are Rao Ubaid-ur-Rehman (Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16), Tahira Kalsoom (Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16), Hafiz Adnan Shafiq (Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16), Maria Zahoor (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Fatima Shahid (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Zeeshan Munawar (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Atif Maqsood (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Nighat Latif (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Sehrish Javed (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Ali Asghar (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Rizwan Asghar (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Anam Tariq (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Munaza Fatima (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Amira Shabbir (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Uzma Shehzadi (Computer Operator, Grade 14), Irfan Sohail (Accountant, Grade 14), Saqib Yaqoob (Data Entry Operator, Grade 12), Muhammad Imtiaz (Data Entry Operator, Grade 12), Akhtar Hussain (Driver, Grade 5), Khurram Sattar (Dak Rider, Grade 4), Rashid Sakhawat (Dak Rider, Grade 4), Gulfam Shahzad (Chowkidar), Munawar Ali (Naib Qasid), Muhammad Asif Ayyub (Naib Qasid), Sagheer Ahmad (Naib Qasid), Muhammad Imran Haider Khan (Naib Qasid), Mohsin Iqbal (Naib Qasid), Fahad Farman (Naib Qasid), Shahid Sabir (Naib Qasid), Imran Awan (Naib Qasid), Ghulam Abbas (Naib Qasid), Hafiz Sajid Hussain (Naib Qasid), Raza Ali (Naib Qasid) and Naeem Khan (Naib Qasid). Sources in the authority revealed that the contracts of some Assistant Food Safety Officers expired in February 2015 while the contracts of Computer Operators working in Grade 14 expired in January 2015. It is pertinent to mention here that the former director general didn’t make any effort to renew the contracts of these officials.
Sources said the newly-appointed Director General of PFA Dr Sajid Chohan as well as the newly-appointed Director Operations Ayesha Mumtaz had also not paying any attention on this vital issue, which could create legal issues in future due to the arrests and raids of the Food Safety Officers and Assistant Food Safety Officers. Sources further revealed that how could authority pay salaries to these officers and under which head.
Sources said Ayesha Mumtaz was actively carrying out raids on various food eateries and factories along with her team but the legality of her actions could be challenged in the court of law because those officers who were issuing arrest or confiscation orders had no legal value in the authority presently.
Sources revealed that the contracts of over 30 officers and officials were going to expire this month, which included Saqib Munir, Deputy Director (Licensing), Grade 18, Shadab Gull, Assistant Director (Lab), Grade 17, Muhammad Khurshid, Assistant Director (Legal), Grade 17, Komal Akbar, Food Safety Officer, Grade 17, Muhammad Ejaz Nawaz, Food Safety Officer, Grade 17, Hafiz Muhammad Imran, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Manzoor Elahi, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Husnain Rasul, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Samar Hayat, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Farah Sarwar Bajwa, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Farrukh Ali Ashraf, Asst Food Safety Officer, Grade 16, Adnan Malhi, Babar Shafi, Jehanzaib Ali, Tayyab Waqas, Sadaf Zulfiqar, Hira Suleman, Muhammad Nadeem, Umair Farooq, Hassan Tariq, Muhammad Kashif Shafiq, Muhammad Faheem, Muhammad Adeel, Muhammad Ahmad, Muhammad Shakeel, Syed Aftab, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Wasif, Abdul Latif, Hafiz Atiqur Rahman, Mushtaq Ahmed and Hani Masih.
The scribe had repeatedly tried to contact Dr Sajid Chohan and Ayesha Mumtaz and also left text messages on their official cell phones but they didn’t respond or call back. When contacted, Admin Officer Arfana Shahzad who presently is dealing with media refused to talk with the scribe. Instead of answering the queries, she started asking that who gave her cell number to the scribe. Despite polite requests, she misbehaved with the scribe.
The Director General Public Relations was also asked to help get the authority’s version. He promised, but he too could move the PFA officials to give their point of view on the story.