LAHORE: The Lahore Metropolitan Corporation has failed to appoint officers according to merit, it has been learnt.
Only one out of nine zones of the Metropolitan Corporation has seen the appointment of an 18-grade officer for the designation of deputy chief officer while junior commissioned officers have been allotted positions meant for senior officers in the rest of the zones.
The more attractive positions continue to be occupied by officers who have filled them for several years.
Such a situation is in spite of local government secretary’s earlier claims that allocations will be done based on merit in the singular Metropolitan Corporation of Punjab.
According to reports, Rana Muhammad Ashraf Asim, a grade-16 officer and a close relative of a female MNA, has been appointed as Deputy Chief Officer, which is a position for grade-19 officers, in addition to his position of Zonal Chief Regulation in the Nishtar zone of the Metropolitan Corporation.
In the Ravi zone, Malik Abrar, grade-17, continues to hold the office of Deputy Chief Officer, meant to be occupied by a grade-19 officer. In the same zone, Shabir Ahmed and sub-engineer Nadeem Khan, both grade-16 officers, have been appointed to the positions of Zonal Officer Regulation and Zonal Officer Infrastructure, both offices intended for grade-17 officers.
In the Data Ganj Bakhsh zone, Imran Asghar Sindhu, grade-17, has been given the grade-19 office of Deputy Chief Officer; Suhail Gondal, grade-16, has been given the grade-17 office of Zonal Officer Regulation; while Muhammad Saleem Mohsin, grade-17, retains his grade-19 finance office with the addition of the position of Zonal Officer Finance of the Ravi zone.
Faisal Shahzad, grade-17, continues to occupy the Deputy Chief Officer’s position in the Gulberg zone, while the grade-17 office of Zonal Officer Regulation has been entrusted to Jawad-ul-Hassan Gondal of grade-16.
Shalimar Zone has seen the appointment of grade-17 officer Rana Naveed Ahmed on the grade-18 position of Deputy Chief Officer, and of grade-16 officer Sidra Zafar on the grade-17 position of Zonal Officer Regulation.
Grade-17 officer, Haris Jalil, has been appointed Deputy Chief Officer in the Iqbal Zone.
In the Samanabad zone, grade-17 officer Rizwan Ali has been appointed as Deputy Chief Officer. Grade-16 Disaster Management Department officer has been given the office of Zonal Officer Regulation.
In the Wahga zone also, the same Tariq Mahmood, grade-17, retains his Deputy Chief Officer designation, while Attique Tariq, grade-16, continues to occupy the grade-17 office of Zonal Officer Regulation.
Only in Aziz Bhatti Town, Muhammad Bakhsh Ansari has been appointed in accordance with his grade-18, to the office of Deputy Chief Officer, while Shahzad Iqbal Qureshi has been appointed as Zonal Officer Regulation.
Appointments, circumventing merit, have been given to junior officers on the basis of nepotism and political influence. Moreover, recent transfers by the local government secretary have smoothed the way for deputation officers’ entry into local government departments.
However, when contacted, Lahore Metropolitan Corporation Mayor Colonel (r) Mubashar Javaid told Pakistan Today that the junior officers had been given additional charges of senior positions due to a shortage of senior officers.
He further added that grade-17 officers are allowed to be given grade-18 and grade-19 positions according to law, as the positions of grade-17 officers and above are interchangeable.
“A lot of my time has been consumed by Ramzan bazars, cattle markets, cricket matches of World XI and Ashura, as I personally had to review their arrangements, but I am trying hard to sort out the issue of the officers’ appointments,” the Mayor said, adding that he hoped that permanent appointments to these positions would be made within two months.
