Contrary to claims made by Imran: Fifty juniors working on important posts in KP

PESHAWAR: Despite the tall claims made by Imran Khan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government setting aside merit has appointed 50 junior officials on important posts.

The details show 22 Grade-19 officials were appointed on Grade-20 posts, notwithstanding the fact that seven Grade-20 officials are available in the province, who have been OSD.

According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa establishment code, current charge could be given to an official for only three to six months.

The documents obtained under Right to Information Act 2013 reveal that there are currently 21 OSDs – officials from Grade-18 to Grade-21 – in the province, with the juniors working on their posts.

Administration and Establishment Secretary Arshad Majeed told daily Jang that such appointments had been made due to shortage of senior officials. The postings and transfers in Grade 19 and above were made only with the chief minister’s approval, he added.

The OSDs currently working in Establishment are: (Grade-21) Syed Akhtar Ali Shah; (Grade-20) Syed Kamran Shah, Hazrat Masood Mian, Hassan Mehmood, Syed Akhtar Hussain Shah, Aziz Khan Khattak, Ajmal Khan and Usman Gul; (Grade-19) Saleem Hassan Wattoo, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Nasir, Ihsanullah, Inamullah Gandapur and Zulfiqar Ali Shah; (Grade-18) Irfan Khan, Ammara Amir, Abdul Munam, Abdul Kabeer, Zafar Ali Shah, Nughmana and Khurram Pervaiz.

Moreover, 22 Grade-19 officials are working on Grade-20 posts. The details are: Arshad Majeed Mohmand (Secretary Administration), Zahir Shah (Secretary Relief), Zulfiqar Ali Shah (Project Director IMU Elementary and Secondary Education), Muhammad Israr (Principal Secretary to the CM), Muhammad Idrees (Special Secretary Finance), Islam Zeb (DG Project Fata), Shahidullah (IG Prisons), Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Special Secretary Environment), Muhammad Israr (Secretary Agriculture), Rashid Khan (MD Small Industrial Development Board), Tahir Orakzai (DG RA), Yousaf Rahim (Secretary Social Sector Fata).

Riaz Khan Mehsud (DG Food Safety Authority), Inayatullah Waseem (DG Galiyat Development Authority), Muhammad Khalid (DG PDMA), Shahab Hamid Yousafzai (DG PERRA), Ghulam Habib (Project Director SAD Local Government), Masood Younas (MD Procurement Regulatory Authority), Akhtar Saeed Turk (Project Director Clean Drinking Water), Qaiser Alam (Secretary Information), Muhammad Israr-ul-Haq (DG EDA) and Syeda Tanzeela Sabahat (Special Secretary Establishment and Administration).

The 28 Grade-18 officials working on Grade-19 posts are: Zafar Islam (PA South Waziristan), Muhammad Abdul Ammar (PA Bajaur), Khalid Iqbal (PA Orakzai), Capt (retd) Khalid Mehmood (PA Khyber Agency), Lt (retd) Muhammad Shoaib (Director Excise and Taxation), Imran Hamid (DC Mardan), Muhammad Usman (DC Upper Dir), Capt (retd) Tahir Zafar Abbasi (Director ESRU), Sohail Khan (AS E&SE), Iftikhar Alam (Additional Secretary Home), Saadat Hussain (Project Director EMU), Khawaja Muhammad Sikandar Zeeshan (DC Nowshera).

Muhammad Qaseem Khan Kakar, Shafiullah Khan (DC Karak), Capt (retd) Aurangzeb Haider Khan (DC Abbottabad), Irshad Ali (DC Chitral), Shahid Mehmood (DC Hangu), Salman Khan (DC Malakand), Muhammad Ali Asghar (DC Bannu), Altaf Ahmed Sheikh (ADC Mardan), Capt (retd) Sarmad Salim Akram (Director Industries), Tashfeen Haider (Project Director Establishment of Housing Foundation), Farhatullah Khan Marwat (DC) and Abdul Hameed Khan (DC Shangla).

Mohmand said there was a severe shortage of officials and the province did not get 50 per cent of those from the federal service. He added that the promotion of senior Grade-19 officials was pending for the two to three years.

The administration and establishment secretary said Shahab Ali Shah, Zahir Shah and he had attended the senior management course a few years ago and were waiting for promotion into Grade-20.

He added that 17 years of service was required for promotion into Grade-20, while he had 20-year service with Shahab and Zahir having 19 years. About making senior officials as OSD, he said none of them was OSD for a long period and some of them avoided new posting due to personal reasons.

Talking about posting junior officials on senior posts, Mohmand said one grade up posting was permissible under law. The chief minister approved the transfers and posting of Grade-18 and above and the notification was issued only after that, he said.