The Sindh government has decided to recruit a new chairman of the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) on contractual basis in violation of the apex court’s verdict, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Reportedly, the PPP-led provincial government is not content with the performance of the current chairman of the tax collecting body.
A retired bureaucrat, Nazar Hussain Mahar was appointed the SRB chairman on contract basis for a two-year term.
“Mahar’s appointment was purely political as he was very close to Naheed Durrani, the daughter of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, and another senior bureaucrat,” well-placed sources told Pakistan Today.
Earlier, the apex court had given a decision against filling any government positions on contract basis as “it deprives senior and dedicated officers from their fundamental right”.
On March 29, the Sindh government published an advertisement in the leading newspapers, mentioning clearly that the position would be filled on contractual basis.
According to the advertisement published: “The Sindh government is cognisant of the need to expand its revenue base and restructure its revenue organisation, it is therefore, seeking the services of a motivated individual with private and public sector experience to drive, change and expand the revenue base and move Sindh’s taxation environment towards a more equitable, broad-based and objective oriented focus.”
“[The government] is seeking an individual for the position of SRB chairman on contract basis with the following qualifications and experience to lead, manage and drive change through the SRB.”
The sources told Pakistan Today that Mahar, the former Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of Development, had misappropriated billions of public funds on unnecessary projects.
In the past, secretaries of all provincial departments jointly had sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah complaining about the SRB chairman’s misuse of power and public money.
“During Mahar’s tenure as Development ACS, college lecturers of 17 and 18 grades were made in-charges of newly-created units such as GBS, SCIP, PPPU, SGRRP and TEVTA and their salaries fixed at Rs 150,000. Moreover, the project allowances of the officers were not less than Rs 50,000 per month,” the sources claimed.
