Serious irregularities found in hiring for 10bn tree programme

ISLAMABAD: Serious irregularities have been found in the recruitment process for the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, with officers and staff hired without a screening test, and no record is available of their education and experience.

The audit has recommended a fact-finding inquiry into the violation of established recruitment procedures by the Departmental Accounts Committee, with the matter to be sent to the Establishment Division for action within 30 days. According to the audit report, the National Strategic Support Unit (NSSU) of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, operating under the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, had advertised vacant positions on September 29, 2022, receiving 8,801 applications in response. The scrutiny committee shortlisted 144 candidates for interviews. During the audit for the fiscal year 2022-23, it was found that appointments were made solely on interviews without conducting a screening test, which was dismissed as unnecessary for quickly filling the positions.

The advertisement for nine positions was published on September 29, 2022, but the recruitment process was not completed within the required 120 days as per the rules. The DPD Finance and Administration and Monitoring and Evaluation posts were advertised on March 29, 2023, while wildlife positions were announced on August 1, 2023. The remaining vacancies had not been finalised by the audit date in August 2023. The audit also revealed that contrary to the rules, the Departmental Selection Committee consisted of five members instead of the required three. Scrutiny of the interview sheets showed that candidates were given a single set of interview marks instead of following the rule-based criteria of 40 per cent and 30 per cent weightage. The minutes of the shortlisting committee meeting mentioned the required education and experience as per the TORs, detailed records of the shortlisted candidates’ education and experience were not available. For the DPD Admin and Finance post, 16 candidates were shortlisted, while 20 candidates for the Monitoring and Evaluation post; however, only seven and eight candidates appeared for the interviews, respectively. There was also no UMS receipts or email evidence regarding the issuance of interview call letters to the successful candidates. The audit report stated that hiring candidates without adhering to the recruitment policy is a violation of the relevant rules.

Preliminary observations were issued on August 10, 2023. The administration responded by stating that the three deputy director positions are policy-level posts that can be better assessed through interviews rather than screening tests. The recruitment process was delayed due to a change in government and because one candidate filed an appeal against the rejection of his application. The head of the Departmental Selection Committee, the secretary, had the discretion to distribute marks equally among the committee members as the authorised head. Additionally, details of the required experience and education for all candidates were provided to the committee members during the interviews.

The audit deemed the administration’s response unsatisfactory, stating that the established recruitment procedures by the Establishment Division were not followed. The audit has recommended implementing the Departmental Accounts Committee’s decision to conduct a fact-finding inquiry and refer the matter to the Establishment Division for action within 30 days.