Due to a handful of corrupt bureaucrats, the entire bureaucracy has become notorious for corruption. The corruption of some bureaucrats continues to overshadow the hard work of others.
In yet another instance of abuse of power, two senior bureaucrats have reportedly been dismissed from service for allegedly embezzling millions of rupees of a scholarship fund to get membership of an exclusive club for the Pakistani elites.
According to details, two senior bureaucrats along with six officials of the National Endowment Scholarships for Talent (NEST) misappropriated around Rs. 25 million meant for needy students and got membership of the Islamabad Club.
In November 2021, NEST’s Board of Directors (BOD) nominated Athar Hussain Zaidi, Faysal Qasim, Qamar Safdar, and Quratulain Talha for Islamabad Club membership. NEST was meant to bear all expenses of the membership.
In March 2022, Manager Administration and Human Resources (AHR) asked the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to comply with BOD’s decision. The CFO sent the matter to then-Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He allegedly approved the request before getting transferred to Gilgit Baltistan (GB) as Chief Secretary
Asim Iqbal was appointed as the CEO and allegedly released Rs. 25 million to the Islamabad Club. He was then posted in Cabinet Division as Additional Secretary.
However, later, the first CEO clarified that he did not release the funds for memberships of NEST officials. He wasn’t the CEO when funds were transferred to Islamabad Club.
The clarification from the first CEO gave rise to controversy and Education Ministry dug deeper. The Ministry asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to verify the authenticity of the signatures of the first CEO.
The four officers mentioned above along with two senior bureaucrats were sacked. The four officers challenged their termination in Islamabad High Court (IHC), claiming that they had no role in the corruption. The IHC will hold the next hearing of the case on 25 January.
Additional Secretary of Education Ministry and CEO NEST, Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry, has said that these four officers have been penalized while the probe against two bureaucrats will be completed soon.
The Ministry has also ordered Islamabad Club to reimburse Rs. 25 million to NEST as this amount was not released in a transparent way.
Via: Dawn
ye haram kamatey hain aur phir in ka bachey university mai jai ko wo wo haram kaam karte hain , kaano ko haath laganey ko dil karta hai .. haram income = haram output of kids … kids nae hain to biwi kar le gi .. kuch chezon ka sila ALLAH dunya main de deta hai ..
Very informative news.
ROT IS TOO DEEP, Allah SAVE THIS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, !
We should punish ourselves as nation and remove the Islamic Republic from Pakistan. We don’t deserve to be at least called Muslim. Really we failed and forgotten the teachings.