Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif has once again appointed Hasnat Qureshi as Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) acting Director General (DG).

Qureshi holds Basic Pay Scale (BPS-20) and is actually an employee of District Management Group (DMG) and also holds the charge of Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA). He was appointed as PIERA chief a couple of months ago.

Sources revealed to Daily Times that Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) forwarded a summary of three names for the DG post to PM house, including FDE planning director Muhammad Taj Bhatti, Estate Director Tanvir Ahmed and police group official Yaseen Farooq.

However, the PM rejected all of them and selected Qureshi for the slot.

The post was vacant for over 4 months when Shahnaz Raiz retired. Her retirement notification was issued by the CADD almost one month before the date of the retirement. Despite that, the authorities paid no heed toward filling the key slot.

CADD Joint Secretary Ayesha Farooq was given the additional charge of FDE DG, but she recently had been sent back to her parent department, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), on the Prime Minister’s office’s directive.

Information suggests that Farooq even served as the DG for over a month even without any formal notification. “She took charge on a verbal notification by the PM’s office,” said an official of the ministry.

As per service recruitment rules, the appointment for the post of the DG should be made through promotion, for which person; such as either a ‘Director (BPS-19)’ or ‘Principal of a Degree College (BPS-19)’ with a minimum of 17 years teaching/administrative experience is eligible for the post of the DG FDE (BPS-20).

In a recent meeting with journalists, CADD minister assured that the post will be taken either from principles, who are qualified enough, or from directors. However, the claim was not practiced.

In the past, this post has remained a ‘musical chair’. Several DGs were appointed and removed. Some of them served even for weeks.

The last retired DG Shahnaz Riaz was appointed thrice on the post when she won a legal battle in the Supreme Court. The apex court ordered for her early restoration against the post of the DG. Before the court’s orders, the CA&DD authorities had sent her to the National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE).

Riaz was an official of the administrative cadre. The teachers demanded that the DG should be appointed from the teaching side as the rules provided them this right.