Dr Majid Naeem, the former IT consultant hired to computerise examination system of all the eight boards of intermediate and secondary examination (BISE) of Punjab, told a judicial commission on Tuesday that an internal rift between the employees was behind the attempt to fail the computerised system and “booty mafia” in the of the BISEs tried to give an impression that the system had collapsed.
Appearing before the commission comprising Justice Shahid Saeed, Dr Majid said during the matriculation exams in 2009, the BISE Lahore employees went on a strike and refused to prepare the results, adding that the government had to detain some employees under Section 16 of MPO, as made the BISE chairman a hostage. He said the same chairman was again appointed before this year’s exams and the employees tried to fail the computerised system in a bid to take revenge from him.
Earlier, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials produced Majid before the commission. Giving details about his arrest by NAB, he said the admission papers of Punjab University (PU) in 2001were prepared for which the PU vice-chancellor (VC) had himself made payment but illegally implicated him. About his previous appointments at PU, Government College University (GCU) and University of Engineering and Technology (UET) besides the reason for his ouster from service, Majid said he resigned from the GCU in protest against illegal admissions by then the registrar. He said he was given a three-month project at UET which he completed. He further claimed that he served at the UET and PU without getting any salary. He said he was hired by the Punjab Boards Chairmen Committee (PBCC) as a contractor against Rs 500,000 for four months. He said he served for one-year term and four months for the BISEs but could get only 220,000 only. He said the PBCC had assigned the same task to the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited for Rs15 million.
He also rejected the allegations that he received commission in purchasing of equipment and said he had nothing to do with the process, as it was the BISEs responsibility to procure different items. Majid said the accusers should show a single receipts of purchasing with his signature to prove that he was involved in the matter, adding that he even gave recommendations for cancellation of various tenders for unnecessary computer devices. He said the BISEs authorities charged Rs 100 per student and collected Rs 200 million but they did not mentioned in their accounts in a bid to hide the matter, while they also made unnecessary purchasing and wasted the money.
He said the consultants of all BISEs were taken on board, adding that he had briefed the chairmen and their IT consultants on the progress made in the work and never bypassed them. He said all chairmen of the BISEs did not know the basics of the computers and had to brief them by translating computer terminology in their own language. He also denied the allegations that he designed complicated answer sheets and admission papers and said he reduced the admission forms from six to only a single page and made the bubble filling optional, which was also be filled by teachers, not only by the students.
Majid said he worked an already running system introduced by Yousaf Hamdani, who was terminated over his inability to handle it.
He said he had requested the BISEs employees in written to prepare results manually too, a suggestion which was rejected, while they also did not used his introduced software. He said different BISEs used their own software and could not handle the results.
Lahore BISE Store Superintendent Tahir said Majid cancelled various tenders terming them useless. He said different items were purchased by Majid but he had no proof of the procurement. On this, the commission ordered him to appear on Thursday with proofs. He also admitted that the bar code readers were purchased on lesser rates on recommendations of Majid, instead of the higher-priced ones, which were finalised by the BISE authorities.
Malik Nisar, a representative of Multan BISE employees union, said the corruption of millions was committed through the system but could not provide any record to substantiate his claims. The commission adjourned the hearing for November 24.