The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has declared the appointment of the Secretary of the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) illegal and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the issue.
Noor Alam Khan, Chairman of the PAC, sent the case of the appointment of Secretary PSF to the FIA and demanded an investigation of the alleged illegal appointments within one week.
The committee was briefed that the Secretary PSF was recruited as a science officer as a Grade-17 officer and was later promoted to Additional Director in Grade-19. Finally, he was appointed as Secretary PSF in Grade-20.
Moreover, the Committee Chairman claimed Dr. Akram Sheikh was appointed in Grade-21 illegally and, along with him, several people were appointed in higher grades.
The Committee Chairman asked why the Ministry of Science had not taken any action on such illegal appointments and said the matter should be investigated by the FIA. He demanded that the Ministry of Science provide all the details.
In the future, the responsibility for such wrongful appointments will fall on the respective Federal Secretary, said the Chairman, adding that no illegal work can be done in any ministry without the federal secretary’s knowledge.
The committee sought a report from the FIA on illegal appointments and demanded a performance audit of the PSF – a five-year project worth Rs 1.2 billion.
The audit officials said that under the project, three hundred students were to be introduced to higher science education annually. The Chairman PAC asked what goals have been achieved in five years and asked for a report to be submitted on the matter in one month.
The audit officials said that the project director was paid Rs. 300,000 in monthly salary and a civil works consultant was hired for the project on a salary of Rs. 200,000 per month.