April 20,2009
Islamabad: Authorities in Azad Kashmir accuse Pakistan’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) of overstepping its role and they describe it as an attempt to undermine the authority of the regional government.
ERRA has been centre of controversies since its inception after October 8, 2005 devastating earthquake.
But the fresh controversy was generated over the issue of recruitments in the project management units (PMUs) of three city development projects-Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakote.
Islamabad: Authorities in Azad Kashmir accuse Pakistan’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) of overstepping its role and they describe it as an attempt to undermine the authority of the regional government.
ERRA has been centre of controversies since its inception after October 8, 2005 devastating earthquake.
But the fresh controversy was generated over the issue of recruitments in the project management units (PMUs) of three city development projects-Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakote.
The PMUs have been set up to co-ordinate the city development projects of these three cities.
The AJK works department -which acts as the so-called secretariat of the MCDP-issued the initial advertisement in August 2007 seeking applications for 34 vacant posts in MCDP- PMU on the advice of Erra.
The department sorted out applications of the candidates and the selection committee headed by the then chief secretary of Azad Kashmir appointed subsequently six officers in November 2007.
However, the remaining appointments were put on hold until the commencement of the project.
Erra approved the Umbrella PC-1 of MCDP in October 2007 whereas the PC-1 of PMU was approved in March 2008 whereby additional technical posts of deputy directors, assistant directors and sub engineers were created for project’s smooth execution.
The controversy was first stirred up when one-year later in June last year Erra directly re-advertised all the posts in Muzaffarabad City Development Project (MCDP) for recruitments.
These included six positions already filled in by the AJK government.
Erra did not go ahead with its plans after the then AJK government threatened to pull out from the process.
In December last year, Erra appointed Sheeraz Baig- a retired brigadier-as project director of MCDP despite the fact that eligible candidates were available in Azad Kashmir.
But no decision was made on remaining appointments ostensibly owing to delay in signing of commercial contract with the Chinese firms.
Finally, the contract was signed in February this year, though the funds initially offered for MCDP were divided up between Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot.
On February 26, Erra put up, revised though devious advertisement, seeking applications to fill up nearly 100 posts in the project management units (PMUs) of three city development projects �Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakote.
Several previously advertised posts were dropped in the advertisement and new positions having no mention in the approved PC-1 were included in it.
For instance, the posts of director admin advertised in February 26 newspapers.
But it was missing in the advertisement put up on the website.
There was no mention of the posts of the deputy director admin in the advertisement that appeared in the newspapers while position was mentioned in the advertisement published on the Erra’s website.
The post of deputy director admin is also not mentioned in approved PC-1.
What was more trickery was that the employment conditions were laid down for all positions in an advertisement put up online except deputy director admin.
It did not lay down any academic qualification for the post of the deputy director except age.
The post of deputy director is not mentioned in the approved PC1.
Authorities sat that “the officials in Erra responsible for advertising had not made a mistake but this is a deliberate omission on their part so that they can make a decision by personnel choice”.
“In fact the decision has already been made and the choice is major Retired Rasheed khan, who is serving as office manager in PMU Muzaffarabad", they say.
The intention became clearer when Erra placed revised advertisement in newspapers on March 2, for recruitments in PMUs of three city development projects.
The positions of director and deputy director admin were also mentioned in the advertisement despite the fact that these positions are not approved in pc-1.
Legal experts say that the act was illegal as the posts are not mentioned in the PC-1
In a fresh advertisement put up on March 2, Erra sought applications for “director/deputy director admin” from those holding “BA/BSc degree with seven years experience in admin related tasks.”
Academic qualification for the post is missing in an advertisement put up on website.
It is interesting to note that the academic qualification for the post of an assistant director (finance) was MSc whereas the academic qualification for director/deputy director admin was BSc/BA.
Many local candidates-who applied for the post of director/deputy director admin-say that they were short-listed despite the fact they possessed required qualification.
Some complained that office manager intentionally held their applications back or they disappeared mysteriously from his possession.
They say that office manager wanted to ensure that he was the sole candidate for the job.
The controversial Office manager is also h the charge of human resource affairs.
Insiders in PMU say that project director is well aware of the situation.
But, they say, he remains silent because of the fact he fully supports office manager.
They further said that project director also discourages local eligible candidates wishing to apply for the post of director /deputy director admin or any other senior position.
Project Diretor-Sheraz Baig- publicly mentioned that his choice for the post of deputy director admin is major retired Rasheed Khan-the incumbent office manager.
Many remark cynically that project director and his office manager have created their own state in MCDP.
Many officials say that Mr. Khan was appointed as office manager reportedly out of sheer favoritism as he lacked required qualifications for the job.
In the same advertisement on March 2, applications were also sought for the post of office manager in Muzaffarabad PMU, from those holding “masters or bachelors degree with relevant experience of 3-6 years”
In the initial advertisement of August 2007, the qualification demanded for the post of office manager was “MBA/MSc Economic with 5-10 years experience in office management.”
Erra’s hiring has repeatedly floated service rules to accommodate Major Rasheed Khan and other favourities.
Previously the level of qualification necessary for the post of office manager was lowered to accommodate him (Rasheed Khan) and this has been repeated.
But this time the level of qualification necessary for the senior position (directory/deputy director admin) has been lowered to induct Mr. Khan.
Authorities say that creation of the post of director/deputy director admin seems bizarre.
Many potential candidates �who applied for different senior positions �complained that that project director told them that senior positions have already been filled in and that they should apply for junior positions.
Some engineers have moved AJk high court after they were not considered for the job in ERRA’s Project Management Unit of Muzaffarabad city development project.
They say that they were not short-listed despite the fact that they were eligible for the job and people recruited by ERRA were lacking requisite experience and qualification.
This approach has left eligible people in Azad Kashmir in deep desperation and hopelessness- which experts say �is a dangerous trend.
“There is no transparent recruitment policy in Erra and that favouritism rules there”, said one of the candidates.
He said Erra’s advertisements carry no meaning. It is just a mockery”, he added.
“Where should go and who should we seek justice from” he said desperately.
Many officials say that repeated advertisement for the same positions is also a burden on the people of Pakistan.
Many believe individuals are being strengthened rather than institutions.
The incumbent office manager (OM)-major retired Rasheed Khan- has also been in the middle of the controversies since his appointment.
He had occupied part of the MCDP office Muzaffarabad in December last year and converted it into his personal residence.
He stayed there with his family for over three months with the support of the project-director, according to insiders.
The project-director also uses the part of the office as his residence,
The incumbent office manager -Rasheed Khan- was forced to quiet the building a few weeks ago following reports about his forcible occupation of partition of office appeared in the press.
The man is also accused of misusing the official resources such as telephones, electricity, gas cylinders and official vehicle.
One of the officials said that he uses official vehicle to bring a kilogram of milk from a diary farm located some 5 kilometers away from his residence.
Project director went far ahead in support of the officer Manager.
Project director has completely sidelined the deputy director legal and runs office affairs through office manager.
“It is irony of the fact that project director also curtailed the powers of deputy director (legal) and delegated his powers to officer manager who is otherwise junior to deputy director legal,”said one of the officials.
Now project director has also seeking amendments in the PC-1 to abolish the post of deputy director legal to get rid of him and include the posts of diretor/deputy director admin.
It appears that Erra officials in Islamabad are supporting the move.
It is also evident from the fact the post of deputy director legal was not mentioned in advertisements published in Pakistani newspapers on Feb 26 and March 2.
Curiously , MCDP-PMU minister in Azad Kashmir government says that he is not aware of any such move-which suggests his helplessness before powerful individuals.
Deputy Director legal is the only local officer holding senior position in the project.
Khawaja Manzoor- a practicing lawyer- was appointed as deputy director legal in November 2007.
It appears that Erra high ups in Islamabad could not digest the appointment of a local on senior position.
It could be gauged from the fact that they delayed the issuance of appointment letter for over 7 months.
They issued him appointment letter in June 2008 following court orders.
They (Erra officials) also with held his salary for three months after his appointment.
They also refused to pay him the advertised salary of rupees 120,000 Pakistani rupees per month and instead he is being paid 80 rupees per month.
This speaks volumes about the discriminatory, bigotry and prejudice attitude of the Erra officials against the locals.
This approach is also reflective of the fact some officials in Erra do not seem serious in running the project.
Authorities in Azad Kashmir are also of the view that Erra is exceeding its authority by employing staff in PMUs directly.
According to ERRA charter, its (Erra’s) job is planning, coordination, financing and monitoring.
Recruitment of staff and execution of projects fall in the jurisdiction of government of Azad Kashmir and have nothing to do with Erra.
”But practically Erra has been directly recruiting the staff and executing projects” officials in Azad Kashmir say.
They say “Erra is transgressing its role and that it is arrogating to itself a power that the ERRA charter simply does not give it”.
“Erra’s intervention amounts to running a parallel government in Azad Kashmir and that its actions undermine the authority of the state government”, commented an official.
The four-party coalition government in Azad Kashmir led by a faction of Muslim Conference opposed to former prime minister of Azad Kashmir-Sardar Attiq Ahmed Khan.
“The infringement of authority by Erra is not only creating unrest among the people in the region but also affects the reconstruction badly” officials added.
Political analysts say that Erra’s encroachment of authority is also hurting the peoples party in Azad Kashmir - the major partner in the regional govt.
The speech of Raza Rabbani in Pakistan’s National assembly soon after the earthquake still reverberates in the minds of the people.
He had commented that instead of involving the people through their representatives in parliament, individualistic decisions and centralized approach had proved total institutional redundancy.
He said in his apeeach that the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority had been given unbridled powers and made independent of parliament’s or any other high office’s check.
He had also questioned the indemnity of its employees from court actions.
Officials from the ERRA are immune from legal action.
Section 11 of the ERRA charter states that “no suit, prosecution, [or] other legal proceedings shall lie against the Authority, the Council, the Board, the Chairperson, or any member, officer, advisers, experts or consultants in respect of anything done in good faith.”
Many people say that officials from Erra should not be protected from legal actions and that they should be hold accountable.
They also say that transparency should be ensured and governments of Azad Kashmir and NWPF should be given greater role in reconstruction and rehabilitation rather than Erra.
People in Azad Kashmir appealed the prime minister of Pakistan-who happens to be the chairman of Erra council by virtue of his office- to take notice of vested interests in Erra.
They say that Prime minister should ensure that respective governments are involved in reconstruction of the quake-hit areas and that it should not left to in the hands of a few bureaucrats.
[Kashmir Watch]
The AJK works department -which acts as the so-called secretariat of the MCDP-issued the initial advertisement in August 2007 seeking applications for 34 vacant posts in MCDP- PMU on the advice of Erra.
The department sorted out applications of the candidates and the selection committee headed by the then chief secretary of Azad Kashmir appointed subsequently six officers in November 2007.
However, the remaining appointments were put on hold until the commencement of the project.
Erra approved the Umbrella PC-1 of MCDP in October 2007 whereas the PC-1 of PMU was approved in March 2008 whereby additional technical posts of deputy directors, assistant directors and sub engineers were created for project’s smooth execution.
The controversy was first stirred up when one-year later in June last year Erra directly re-advertised all the posts in Muzaffarabad City Development Project (MCDP) for recruitments.
These included six positions already filled in by the AJK government.
Erra did not go ahead with its plans after the then AJK government threatened to pull out from the process.
In December last year, Erra appointed Sheeraz Baig- a retired brigadier-as project director of MCDP despite the fact that eligible candidates were available in Azad Kashmir.
But no decision was made on remaining appointments ostensibly owing to delay in signing of commercial contract with the Chinese firms.
Finally, the contract was signed in February this year, though the funds initially offered for MCDP were divided up between Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot.
On February 26, Erra put up, revised though devious advertisement, seeking applications to fill up nearly 100 posts in the project management units (PMUs) of three city development projects �Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakote.
Several previously advertised posts were dropped in the advertisement and new positions having no mention in the approved PC-1 were included in it.
For instance, the posts of director admin advertised in February 26 newspapers.
But it was missing in the advertisement put up on the website.
There was no mention of the posts of the deputy director admin in the advertisement that appeared in the newspapers while position was mentioned in the advertisement published on the Erra’s website.
The post of deputy director admin is also not mentioned in approved PC-1.
What was more trickery was that the employment conditions were laid down for all positions in an advertisement put up online except deputy director admin.
It did not lay down any academic qualification for the post of the deputy director except age.
The post of deputy director is not mentioned in the approved PC1.
Authorities sat that “the officials in Erra responsible for advertising had not made a mistake but this is a deliberate omission on their part so that they can make a decision by personnel choice”.
“In fact the decision has already been made and the choice is major Retired Rasheed khan, who is serving as office manager in PMU Muzaffarabad", they say.
The intention became clearer when Erra placed revised advertisement in newspapers on March 2, for recruitments in PMUs of three city development projects.
The positions of director and deputy director admin were also mentioned in the advertisement despite the fact that these positions are not approved in pc-1.
Legal experts say that the act was illegal as the posts are not mentioned in the PC-1
In a fresh advertisement put up on March 2, Erra sought applications for “director/deputy director admin” from those holding “BA/BSc degree with seven years experience in admin related tasks.”
Academic qualification for the post is missing in an advertisement put up on website.
It is interesting to note that the academic qualification for the post of an assistant director (finance) was MSc whereas the academic qualification for director/deputy director admin was BSc/BA.
Many local candidates-who applied for the post of director/deputy director admin-say that they were short-listed despite the fact they possessed required qualification.
Some complained that office manager intentionally held their applications back or they disappeared mysteriously from his possession.
They say that office manager wanted to ensure that he was the sole candidate for the job.
The controversial Office manager is also h the charge of human resource affairs.
Insiders in PMU say that project director is well aware of the situation.
But, they say, he remains silent because of the fact he fully supports office manager.
They further said that project director also discourages local eligible candidates wishing to apply for the post of director /deputy director admin or any other senior position.
Project Diretor-Sheraz Baig- publicly mentioned that his choice for the post of deputy director admin is major retired Rasheed Khan-the incumbent office manager.
Many remark cynically that project director and his office manager have created their own state in MCDP.
Many officials say that Mr. Khan was appointed as office manager reportedly out of sheer favoritism as he lacked required qualifications for the job.
In the same advertisement on March 2, applications were also sought for the post of office manager in Muzaffarabad PMU, from those holding “masters or bachelors degree with relevant experience of 3-6 years”
In the initial advertisement of August 2007, the qualification demanded for the post of office manager was “MBA/MSc Economic with 5-10 years experience in office management.”
Erra’s hiring has repeatedly floated service rules to accommodate Major Rasheed Khan and other favourities.
Previously the level of qualification necessary for the post of office manager was lowered to accommodate him (Rasheed Khan) and this has been repeated.
But this time the level of qualification necessary for the senior position (directory/deputy director admin) has been lowered to induct Mr. Khan.
Authorities say that creation of the post of director/deputy director admin seems bizarre.
Many potential candidates �who applied for different senior positions �complained that that project director told them that senior positions have already been filled in and that they should apply for junior positions.
Some engineers have moved AJk high court after they were not considered for the job in ERRA’s Project Management Unit of Muzaffarabad city development project.
They say that they were not short-listed despite the fact that they were eligible for the job and people recruited by ERRA were lacking requisite experience and qualification.
This approach has left eligible people in Azad Kashmir in deep desperation and hopelessness- which experts say �is a dangerous trend.
“There is no transparent recruitment policy in Erra and that favouritism rules there”, said one of the candidates.
He said Erra’s advertisements carry no meaning. It is just a mockery”, he added.
“Where should go and who should we seek justice from” he said desperately.
Many officials say that repeated advertisement for the same positions is also a burden on the people of Pakistan.
Many believe individuals are being strengthened rather than institutions.
The incumbent office manager (OM)-major retired Rasheed Khan- has also been in the middle of the controversies since his appointment.
He had occupied part of the MCDP office Muzaffarabad in December last year and converted it into his personal residence.
He stayed there with his family for over three months with the support of the project-director, according to insiders.
The project-director also uses the part of the office as his residence,
The incumbent office manager -Rasheed Khan- was forced to quiet the building a few weeks ago following reports about his forcible occupation of partition of office appeared in the press.
The man is also accused of misusing the official resources such as telephones, electricity, gas cylinders and official vehicle.
One of the officials said that he uses official vehicle to bring a kilogram of milk from a diary farm located some 5 kilometers away from his residence.
Project director went far ahead in support of the officer Manager.
Project director has completely sidelined the deputy director legal and runs office affairs through office manager.
“It is irony of the fact that project director also curtailed the powers of deputy director (legal) and delegated his powers to officer manager who is otherwise junior to deputy director legal,”said one of the officials.
Now project director has also seeking amendments in the PC-1 to abolish the post of deputy director legal to get rid of him and include the posts of diretor/deputy director admin.
It appears that Erra officials in Islamabad are supporting the move.
It is also evident from the fact the post of deputy director legal was not mentioned in advertisements published in Pakistani newspapers on Feb 26 and March 2.
Curiously , MCDP-PMU minister in Azad Kashmir government says that he is not aware of any such move-which suggests his helplessness before powerful individuals.
Deputy Director legal is the only local officer holding senior position in the project.
Khawaja Manzoor- a practicing lawyer- was appointed as deputy director legal in November 2007.
It appears that Erra high ups in Islamabad could not digest the appointment of a local on senior position.
It could be gauged from the fact that they delayed the issuance of appointment letter for over 7 months.
They issued him appointment letter in June 2008 following court orders.
They (Erra officials) also with held his salary for three months after his appointment.
They also refused to pay him the advertised salary of rupees 120,000 Pakistani rupees per month and instead he is being paid 80 rupees per month.
This speaks volumes about the discriminatory, bigotry and prejudice attitude of the Erra officials against the locals.
This approach is also reflective of the fact some officials in Erra do not seem serious in running the project.
Authorities in Azad Kashmir are also of the view that Erra is exceeding its authority by employing staff in PMUs directly.
According to ERRA charter, its (Erra’s) job is planning, coordination, financing and monitoring.
Recruitment of staff and execution of projects fall in the jurisdiction of government of Azad Kashmir and have nothing to do with Erra.
”But practically Erra has been directly recruiting the staff and executing projects” officials in Azad Kashmir say.
They say “Erra is transgressing its role and that it is arrogating to itself a power that the ERRA charter simply does not give it”.
“Erra’s intervention amounts to running a parallel government in Azad Kashmir and that its actions undermine the authority of the state government”, commented an official.
The four-party coalition government in Azad Kashmir led by a faction of Muslim Conference opposed to former prime minister of Azad Kashmir-Sardar Attiq Ahmed Khan.
“The infringement of authority by Erra is not only creating unrest among the people in the region but also affects the reconstruction badly” officials added.
Political analysts say that Erra’s encroachment of authority is also hurting the peoples party in Azad Kashmir - the major partner in the regional govt.
The speech of Raza Rabbani in Pakistan’s National assembly soon after the earthquake still reverberates in the minds of the people.
He had commented that instead of involving the people through their representatives in parliament, individualistic decisions and centralized approach had proved total institutional redundancy.
He said in his apeeach that the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority had been given unbridled powers and made independent of parliament’s or any other high office’s check.
He had also questioned the indemnity of its employees from court actions.
Officials from the ERRA are immune from legal action.
Section 11 of the ERRA charter states that “no suit, prosecution, [or] other legal proceedings shall lie against the Authority, the Council, the Board, the Chairperson, or any member, officer, advisers, experts or consultants in respect of anything done in good faith.”
Many people say that officials from Erra should not be protected from legal actions and that they should be hold accountable.
They also say that transparency should be ensured and governments of Azad Kashmir and NWPF should be given greater role in reconstruction and rehabilitation rather than Erra.
People in Azad Kashmir appealed the prime minister of Pakistan-who happens to be the chairman of Erra council by virtue of his office- to take notice of vested interests in Erra.
They say that Prime minister should ensure that respective governments are involved in reconstruction of the quake-hit areas and that it should not left to in the hands of a few bureaucrats.
[Kashmir Watch]
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