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.