The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has directed for taking strict action against illegal appointments made in Workers Welfare Board (WWB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The committee headed by Senator Baz Muhammad Khan expressed displeasure not only over the illegal appointments in WWB but also on unnecessary purchase of 101 kanals of land, besides other management related issues.
The committee observed that construction of WWB school in Azmat Khel area of Bannu is still in limbo which was started in 2005, while school construction in Zhob has not been even started yet. The committee was told that due to lack of funds, the projects are still pending, however the PC-I of the school in Azmat Khel, Bannu, is expected to be approved on August 16.
An official from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the committee about 11 cases against Worker Welfare Board KP officials, while references have been filed against nine of them. Further, he apprised the committee that not even 1,000 employees out of 4,000 recruited persons fulfill the criteria of appointment.
The chairman committee, Senator Baz directed the officials to submit details of land bought for construction of buildings along with illegal appointments to the committee in the next meeting. Senator Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum (Retd) called for holding an inquiry against the responsible officials. Responsible officials should be held accountable, he added.
While briefing the committee members, an official of Oversea Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) said that total number of Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia has reached 2.6 millions. Saudi Arabia has introduced a three months amnesty scheme for illegal immigrants.
Over 75,000 Pakistanis were issued emergency passports. More than 100,000 Pakistanis have returned to the country after benefiting from the scheme, while number of Pakistanis going for employment in Saudi Arabia has come down. During the last year, 462,000 persons went to Saudi Arabia whereas 77,600 persons have gone there during the six months of the ongoing year.
Senator Abdul Qayyum stressed that maximum employment opportunities should be exploited for Pakistanis keeping regional changes in mind. The officials briefed that there is no record of people who returned to the country.
Officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the meeting that 9,000 Pakistanis are languishing in jails of different countries on smuggling charges.
On this Hamdullah said that action should be taken against the agents who sent these people abroad as well as employees of departments deployed at airports.
Comments
Comments are closed.