PESHAWAR: The appointment of a person as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Water Supply and Sanitation Company (WSSC) Swat who was third in the panel of three candidates for the post and had earlier been retired compulsorily on charges of fraud has exposed the policy of merit of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)-led coalition government in the province.
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak earlier this month approved appointment of Pervez Khan as chief executive officer (CEO) of the WSSC Swat despite the fact that he was at the bottom of the merit list.
Soon after the appointment, the deputy commission Swat received a complaint against the WSSC chief, accusing him of tempering with his academic and other documents to get a job earlier with the Population Welfare Department.
The complaint was shared with the Local Government and Rural Development Department, which is also the administrative department of the water supply and sanitation companies.
However, the chief minister ordered probe into the appointment of WSSC Swat chief on August 12 after the story appeared in The Media the same day regarding the fraud and other charges that led to the compulsory retirement of the incumbent chief of WSSC Swat chief as deputy director from the Population Welfare Department.
The chief minister directed the Secretary Local Government “to probe the matter thoroughly and fix responsibility for the lapse, provided, it is committed willfully or unwillfully.”A government spokesman said the secretary Local Government has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit a detailed report about the said appointment within three days.
He also clarified that “it was a routine practice that a summary containing a panel of three eligible candidates for any given post is sent to the chief minister to solicit his approval as he is the competent authority.”
“The summary in this case was not backed by the background of the candidates contending for the post of chief executive WSSC, Swat and sent to the chief minister for approval, “the spokesman maintained.
The sources, while sharing the copy of enquiry report with The Media, said the secretary Local Government had submitted his finding to the chief secretary.
The probe report of the secretary LG&RDD noted that after the receipt of the recommendations of the Selection Committee/ Board of Authority three candidates were finalised for appointment as CEO WSSC Swat.
They included Shaida Muhammad, who secured 68 marks in the test and interview, Muhammad Fahim, rated second with 66.63 marks, while Pervez Khan remained third with 63.25 marks.
The department, the probe report said, initiated a summary for approval of the first candidate as per marks obtained in the test and interview wherein Pervez Khan was selected as CEO WSSC Swat and the LG&RDD issued the order accordingly.
He also informed the chief secretary that “tehsil nazim Babuzai also initiated a motion against him regarding illegal appointments in WSSC Swat”.The inquiry officer also referred to the fraud and corruption committed by Pervez Khan and inquiry against his by Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) while serving in the Population Welfare Department. He requested the chief minister, through chief secretary, to reconsider the merit list submitted in the summary and approve the first candidate in the merit list,(Shaida Muhammad) as recommended by the Board of Director (BoD) of the WSSC Swat and de-notify the earlier approval of the candidate, Pervez Khan, as CEO WSSC Swat.
