The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has initiated an investigation process against the illegal appointments made by Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) that works under the administrative control of the ministry, the sources revealed. The ministry has formulated an inquiry committee comprising senior officials, which will be headed by DG External Publish Wing Shafqat Jaleel.
In addition to the alleged appointments made without engaging the competitive process including advertising for the vacant positions, the committee will also undertake the fixation of hefty packages to the blue-eyed officials.
As many as dozens of the appointments have been made in PCP without first advertising for the vacant positions, however the appointments were approved by the Promotion and Selection Committee of the PCP. The recruited officials include Rafique Ahmed Dahar (grade-20), his son Adnan Rafique Dahar (grade-17), Waqas Bin Arshad son of PCP's Deputy Director Finance Mohammad Arshad (grade-17), Rehmatullah Zahid (grade-17), Noreen Ahmed (grade-18), Shoaib Bin Shams (grade-18), Saima (grade-14), Sikandar Ali (grade-16), Mohammad Noman (grade-15), Shabbir Ahmed (grade-15), Ejaz Hussain Baqri as director, Taimur Kiani as programmer and Mohammad Usman as deputy director.
When contacted, PCP Chairman Salahuddin Mengal had defended the appointments, saying the PCP Ordinance empowers its chairman to make contractual appointments without advertising the vacant positions in the newspapers.
As per the PCP rule 11, "appointment to various posts in the council shall be made: (a) by direct recruitment through advertisement; (b) by promotion; (c) or by deputation or transfer of persons employed in government or government controlled institutions. The sub-rule 2 of Rule 11 states, "The council shall constitute a Promotion and Selection Committee for the purpose of selecting suitable candidates for appointments to the posts. The chairman shall make appointment to the posts taking into account recommendations of the Promotion and Selection Committee and allows the chairman PCP to "make temporary appointment on ad hoc basis for a period not exceeding one year."