The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has held the management responsible in its investigation into the matter of 87 alleged irregular appointments in the officer cadres in the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).
The NAB had initiated an investigation into irregular appointments in 2015.
Some complainants, including IESCO employees, had complained that the recruitment for vacant slots in IESCO was not completed in a transparent manner but was marred by nepotism and favoritism.
The appointments to various slots were made at personal whims and wishes in defiance of the rules fixed by the WAPDA/PEPCO, according to the complainants, who also alleged that existing employees were not considered at all for the posts.
The IESCO had selected M/s Resource Access (Pvt) Ltd for the recruitment process.
According to NAB findings, the IESCO management did not follow the relevant guidelines for outsourcing of the firm. “It is tantamount to negligence, and misconduct on part of the IESCO management,” the NAB report said, adding that overall examination and satisfaction regarding hiring by the service provider was responsibility of the client, IESCO.
Different committees (evaluation committee for the selection of firm, qualification revision committee, monitoring committee, interview committee) had been constituted for the process of recruitment, but they failed to adhere to the relevant rules.
Pointing out the failures of the client (IESCO), the NAB report said the client never invoked the clause that empowers it to blacklist the service provider or impose penalty if it was not meeting the fixed criteria.
Although the NAB has completed its investigation, the IESCO management has not yet taken any action against those responsible for irregular appointments.
It may be mentioned here that the IESCO had not regularised the jobs of these officials after completion of their probation period after the NAB initiated an investigation into their illegal appointments.
According to sources, Yousaf Awan, Ex-CEO, IESCO was allegedly involved in the irregular appointments.
At present, the case of alleged irregular appointments is sub-judice as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been approached by Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah Kazmi, an employee of the IESCO.
The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has already conducted a departmental inquiry and imposed penalties on IESCO officers and officials. Also, Wafaqi Muhtasib (Federal Ombudsman) was approached by a complainant Ibrahim Dad Khattak for the same issues.
Also, the ombudsman had disposed of the matter, observing that the case was being investigated by the NAB.
The IESCO spokesman did not bother to respond, despite repeated text messages and phone calls from this scribe.
