National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce on Friday took serious notice of the controversial appointments of commercial counsellors abroad and directed the officials concerned to provide relevant record pertaining to original policy for selection of trade officers approved by the Prime Minister.
Standing Committee Chairman Khurram Dastgir Khan while directed the Secretary Commerce to provide it qualitative aspects of the tests conducted by LUMS and PITAD, eligibility criteria for selection of trade officers conveyed to PITAD, criteria for giving extensions to the trade officers posted abroad, reasons for keeping 50 percent benchmark as passing marks for PITAD while it was 60 percent for LUMS written test, quota of posting of C&T officers in trade offices abroad and its current status.
On the occasion standing committee member Tahira Aurangzeb expressed grave concern over the selection criteria and the non transparent policy of choosing trade officers and said that all the appointments were made on political grounds. She noted that the officers of Commerce and Trade Group were being ignored in the selection process despite their excellent performance in the written test and most relevant experience.
While questioning the selection of commercial counsellors' criteria, she said that why the posts of trade officers kept open for other service groups and private sector when all the foreign posts of Foreign Service and information service abroad were being allocated to their respective service groups without any test and only through interviews and previous service record.
Member committee Shireen Arshad said that the posts of trade officers should be exclusively reserved for the officers of Commerce and Trade Group who were selected through CSS examinations, trained and groomed for the specific assignment of trade promotion.
Chairman standing committee expressed his apprehensions on the selection of private sector individuals who were selected through a test Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD). These individuals were recommended for posting by lowering the selection criteria to 50 percent marks, which was originally fixed at 60 percent for Commerce and Trade Group officers who appeared in the written test conducted by Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The committee took serious note of selection of such officers who have never served in the Ministry of Commerce or any of its attached departments before posting and continue to serve in their parent departments after completion of their tenure as trade officers. The Committee also questioned the criteria of granting extensions to traade officers posted abroad.
Secretary Ministry of Commerce Zafar Mahmood assured the Committee that all the relevant papers would be placed before the committee in its next meeting and the directions of the Committee would be accorded full deference while formulating the fresh policy for the selection of trade officers abroad.
The Ministry of Commerce had sought a one-time dispensation from the Prime Minister for the selection of trade officers and selected three private sector candidates through a test conducted by PITAD.
The officers of Commerce and Trade Group who occupy only 14 out of 62 posts of trade officers abroad were barred to take the said exam. As a result of the said exam, Ayesha Saeed daughter of Senator Gulshan Saeed, a member of Standing Committee of Senate on Commerce and Shahryar Talpur, son of Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur, MNA and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Commerce and Nadia Rehman, daughter of Khalid Rehman, Manager Duty Free Shops were selected for the coveted posts of trade officers at Santiago, Brussels and Prague, respectively.