Three employees of the Sindh Industries and Commerce Department have been promoted without in violation of rules as the necessary procedure was not followed, Pakistan Today has learnt. On of them managed to get three promotions in two years and reached grade 17 (gazetted) from grade 7.
According to the documents obtained by Pakistan Today, Saleem Phulpoto a grade 7 record keeper of the Sindh government’s Printing and Stationary Department – a sub-department of the Industries and Commerce Department – was promoted illegally three times in two years by the then secretary of the department Ali Muhammad Lund, Controller of the Printing Press Firoz Akhtar Khan and Administrative Officer Suleman Siddiqui.
These officers promoted the employee using Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah’s name, giving the reason Phulpoto is a resident of Khairpur – the home district of provincial chief executive. According to the service rules dealing with appointments, promotions and transfers, Section 24 allows the chief minister to promote any officer as a special case for one time only, but in the case of Phulpoto, he was promoted three times using the chief minister’s name.
These officers also promoted two other officials, Javed Iqbal and Shahid Raheem, who were working as assistants of grade 11 at the Sindh government’s printing press, to grade-16. Phulpoto was first promoted from grade 7 to grade 12 on June 25, 2008 vide order No CP&S/AO/East/DPC-11/2008/4270. He was then promoted on Jan 29, 2009 to grade 16 as manager works without the due process and then for a third time to grade 17.
The man who supervised these illegal postings, Ali Muhammad Lund, who is now the secretary of Local Government Department, refused to talk to Pakistan Today about this issue, insisting that official rules bar government officers revealing any information to the media.