The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Commission (KP-RTIC) has a skeleton in its closet, which it has been keeping at the cost of the government exchequer through illegal inductions, Pakistan Today was told by whistleblowers on Thursday.
Asking the provincial government to hold an enquiry into the matter, and make those involved accountable, the whistle blowers said that the KP RTI Commission established under the KP RTI Act 2013 for transparency, improved governance, reduce corruption and accountable to citizens, committed rules violations, illegalities and irregularities is being used for the opposite of what it was established for.
Seeking protection under the whistle blowing Section 30 (1) (2) provided in the KP RTI Act 2013, the communication officer, administration officer and budget and account officer of the KP RTIC stated that the commission violated KP-PPRA (Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) rules by hiring a retired person, well above the age of 60 years, as a consultant than raised him to the post of Secretary (BPS-18) of the commission without any advertisement, TORs and proposal. The commission also inducted 16 class-iv employees without any advertisement and fulfilling the due legal requirements, they added.
A consultant cannot be given additional charge as Secretary RTIC, they further informed.
They said that after the RTIC was asked what was going on by the KP Information Department, and told not to appoint someone beyond the age of 60 years, it went ahead and appointed him (aged 64 years and 11 months) as a consultant with an additional charge of secretary firstly for six months at a salary of Rs. 85,000 per month. His term began from September 22, 2014 to March 21, 2015 and allowed him to receive TA/DA as admissible to BPS-18 officer including other privileges, like 110 litres of petrol per month, a car and a driver.
That wasn’t all. After his first contract expired he was given a year’s extension from March 22, 2015 to March 21, 2016 with a revised salary package of Rs 100,000 a month.
They added that it is a unique case in the country history itself that a retired person is re-employed to take salary as consultant but work as the RTIC secretary and is given a salary raise after six months.
The whistleblowers said that though this post was created in December 2013 but no recruitments were made to it even after a lapse of a year and a half, only so a favourite could be awarded the seat.
Though a consultant cannot be given additional charge as he has nothing to do with a regular post, not only he was given additional charge but has also been delegated certain financial powers as well, Pakistan Today was told.
On the KP RTIC website he is mentioned only as a consultant, however, during official correspondence he signs his name as the RTIC secretary. This correspondence includes those addressed to the Administrative Secretaries of various government departments in KP.
The commission has developed no TORs for the consultant cum secretary, so there is no target set for him as to what he should do to perform during the contract period.
The story do not end here; before the consultant-cum-secretary there was another consultant hired directly by the Commission from July 1, 2014, to October 31, 2014, at Rs 75,000 per month. What this means is that the hiring overlapped with that of the RTIC secretary, so at one time there were two consultants in the commission enjoying salaries at the cost of the government exchequer.
In the class-iv employees induction the commission also showed favouritism and did not execute the government hiring procedure for inductions. The commission asked its close favourites to make employment exchange certificates from a district employment exchange just a few day before their inductions. This left hundreds of thousands of potential candidates bereaved from any competition on the posts since they were never advertised in any newspaper.
Of the total 16 class-iv employees inducted without any advertisement and sans rules, there are four drivers taking Rs 14,500 per month salary each, eight Naib-Qasid taking Rs 13,500 per month salary, one dispatch rider taking Rs 13,400, a sweeper Rs 13,400 and two watchmen who earn Rs 13,400.
