Bypassing the rules of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), the Sindh government is likely to recruit at least twelve Excise and Taxation Officers (ETOs) who have close links with the PPP, sources told Pakistan Today.
Relatives of the sitting ministers of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are being blessed with cash-earning posts ahead of the general elections. Ironically, the promotions of at least 25 assistant ETOs, who are waiting for their promotions since the last couple of years, would also be violated in the process, sources told Pakistan Today.
Sources disclosed that the list of candidates had already been worked out at an unofficial ‘employment cell’, which is working at Chief Minister’s House, headed by Nazar Mohammad Bozdar, and the list had been forwarded to Sindh Excise and Taxation Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla for further compliance. The excise and taxation department on Sunday conducted interviews of the blue-eyed candidates, one of whom was a close relative of the excise minister and the other was the brother-in-law of the minister for transport. The interviews were conducted at the office of Director General Excise Shoaib Siddiqui, sources said.
As per rules, the inductions of grade 17 and above posts were to be made after a competitive exam conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission and no direct induction is possible.
However, in this case, the excise and taxation department had sought a special permission from Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to allow the department to make the appointments on ad-hoc basis for a period of six month. After six months, these appointments would be regularised.
“Yes, the ETOs are being appointed directly with the permission of the chief minister. These appointments would be made on purely merit basis by a committee which includes officials from excise and taxation and services departments”, Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla told Pakistan Today.
The minister said the Sindh Public Service Commission seemed reluctant to hold written tests and interviews of the candidates despite multiple reminders by the Sindh government.
