Jatoi orders probe into USC irregularities

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi has taken a serious notice of a news item published in The News that unearthed various irregularities in the Utility Stores Corporation (USC), and called an inquiry report from the secretary.
Jatoi has ordered the secretary to thoroughly investigate the issue due to which the corporation had been without MD for the last many months despite that a vacancy had been advertised thrice since December 2014.
The ministry will also investigate as to why the candidates shortlisted for the third time out of four dozen applicants were not acceptable to the chairman of the USC board.
The chairman is sitting on the process saying, “No suitable candidate has been found from the entire Pakistan”.
Last time, after the second round of advertisement, the minister called a report in June 2015 from the secretary on the alleged irregularities.
It was found that a panel of candidates recommended by the chairman comprised two overage candidates, including the then acting MD Dr. Mukhtar and the third one had a dubious MBA degree from a non-recognised local institution.
The ministry rejected the panel and directed the corporation to re-advertise the post under same eligibility criteria thwarting the chairman’s attempt of removing the age limit of 54 years.
It is worth mentioning that due to this confrontation and not appointing a regular MD, the USC’s sales have reduced by one-fourth over the last one year.