Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started a formal investigation against corruption and nepotism in the Lok Virsa.

The Executive Director Lok Virsa, has been tangled between NAB and the FIA. Daily Times came to know that the NAB had written a letter to the Lok Virsa in which it was asked about the recruitment of some people in the Lok Virsa on a contractual basis and it was also asked about their hefty pay and allowances. The Lok Virsa did not respond to the NAB in a satisfactory manner. Later on those employees about whom the NAB raised questions, were removed from their posts, one by one.

Now the FIA asked similar sort of questions in black and white on August 2 this year regarding induction of some staff in the Lok Virsa, including two blue-eyed persons of the ED, Ashfaq Ahmed and Sajid Munir. But the Executive Director did not reply to the agency’s query in spite of pledging to provide complete information. Now once again these employees are being removed.

Sources said that an application was forwarded to the NAB and the FIA in which it was disclosed that a staff member, Anwar-ul-Haq was appointed in 1983, purely on temporary basis. Then he was made a steno typist. After some time he was promoted as stenographer. Then once again he was promoted to the post of director. The above mentioned promotions were in violation of the merit rules but the man was so much influential that no one raised questions against it. The application further mentioned that those employees who are not in the good books of the Executive Director were degraded.

The FIA took action on these applications. The sources said that the ED had decided to go with the contractual employees instead of a regular staff, due to which nepotism and corruption had reached a pinnacle. Sources said that another application would be moved by those employees who were regularised in Zardari’s regime but later on they were deprived of the right of annual increment.

The sources said that the suspended employees were not reinstated despite the fact that they were taking full pay and allowances but the department was not taking any duty from them.

Fauzia Saeed, Executive Director Lok Virsa, could not be reached for comments.