- Ministry restores suspended staff over record tampering
ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of the allegations of State Minister for Science and Technology (MoST) Mir Dostain Khan Domki regarding illegal appointments in the ministry, the Prime Minister (PM) House has reportedly initiated an inquiry into the appointments of 35 officials.
According to sources, the PM House has initiated the inquiry after taking notice of the recent appointments made in the Ministry of Science and Technology through record tampering and rules violation.
Interestingly, an employee of the ministry, who was suspended for his alleged involvement in tampering with results of written tests of some officials recruited recently, has also been restored by the ministry. The state minister had earlier complained to the prime minister that a mafia at MoST was given free hand to indulge in corruption and make illegal appointments.
Sources said that a tug of war also ensued between the state minister and Rana Tanveer Hussain after he was appointed as federal minister of MoST.
At least six officers of BPS-17, as alleged by Mir Dostain Domki, were appointed through tampering record of their written tests in which they had not secured the required marks. They were, however, being blue-eyed of the high-ups in the ministry, were recruited at Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) – a subordinate organisation of the ministry – on the basis of tampered results.
According to the notification, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, Farrukh Talal, a keypunch operator at PSQCA, was suspended after an investigation by a committee which found the operator involved in tampering the marks of two candidates for BPS-17 in NUST test. The accused tampered the marks from 40 to 42 in the NUST test report.
Besides that, the notification added, four candidates from Sindh obtained 44 marks as per NUST result sheet, however, the operator included only one candidate and three were not even called for the interview.
The state minister, who submitted resignation to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in protest against the appointment of Rana Tanveer Hussain as federal minister for science and technology, had initiated an investigation against the appointment of such officials in the ministry.
As Domki continued voicing against the illegal appointments and unabated corruption in MoST, the ministry had recently suspended a computer operator for his alleged role in record tampering.
Sources told Pakistan Today the operator had again resumed his job in the ministry.
However, a BPS-17 officer named Sidra, who was recruited through record tampering as assistant director chemical at the quality control centre in Lahore, had recently been terminated by the ministry after two months in an apparent attempt of face-saving.
Interestingly, no action has, however, been taken against those involved in corrupt practices, nor were the appointments cancelled.
To give a cover to the entire process of appointment which was completed this month, sources claim that Ghulam Umar Qazi, who allegedly facilitated the tampering as PSQCA secretary, was reinstated again recently by Rana Tanveer after having been removed from the post of secretary earlier.
Domki, whose resignation has not been accepted by the prime minister, has alleged that following his exit from the ministry, 35 appointments to grades 17 and above were made in PSQCA. According to the state minister, the process was already initiated but PSQCA administration tampered with the final list.
He has also asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to look into the matter.
An official of PSQCA claimed that there was a misunderstanding about the appointments and said that he was unaware of any investigation into the fresh appointments. He claimed that the PSQCA had followed all the applicable government rules along with observance of provincial quotas.