National Assembly panel asks government to remove MD SNGPL

The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources on Wednesday asked the government to remove the Managing Director (MD) Sui-Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) for repeatedly not acting upon its recommendations.
The parliamentary panel also asked the Speaker of the National Assembly to disband all parliamentary committees as officials concerned did not take recommendations of these bodies seriously. The committee met here on Wednesday with Tariq Khattak in the chair and recommended to the speaker National Assembly to make the standing committees more effective or abolish them, adding that the members are just wasting time and money as the government officials are not taking the recommendations seriously.
The committee was annoyed with the attitude of officials of Sui Northern Gas Company Limited (SNGPL) and Oil and Gas Development Company limited (OGDCL) and said that during the tenure of present government officials remained least bothered to follow the recommendations of the committee and take decisions according to their own will.
Barjees Tahir of PML-N, while criticising OGDCL's recruitment policy, said that the company had no criteria for recruitment. He alleged that the company had recruited "their favourites" during the past few years.
He said that officials of OGDCL and SNGPL "are here for their TA/DA and they have nothing to do with the sufferings of masses" or the recommendations of the committee. He said that in 2008, no department was in such worst condition as they are today. He said that in the near future SNGPL would become an entity like Pakistan International Airline (PIA), constantly seeking bailout packages to pay salaries of its staff. He said that there was no official to accept the responsibility for worsening conditions in public sector organisations such as OGDCL, SSGC and SNGPL.
The committee said that ministries never showed interest in the recommendations of the standing committee and asked the Speaker to make it mandatory for the ministries to follow the directions of the standing committee. Rana Afzal raised the issue of illegal promotions and demotions in the OGDCL and said that favouritism prevailed in the company while deserving officers were being ignored.
Additional Secretary Naeem Malik assured the committee that the ministry would hold a thorough investigation into the matter and submit its report. During the meeting, officials of OGDCL told the committee that in the past five months, 120 persons had been hired by the company of which six were hired through open advertisement while 114 were 'favourites'. MD PSO Naeem Yahya Amir said that PSO had hired two persons on contract basis in the past five months.