Daily Times

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Secretary Siddique Memon is likely to regularise the services of at least 42 controversial information officers (IOs) of BPS-17 tomorrow (May 26). In this regard, the chief secretary has summoned a high-level meeting at his office, Daily Times has learnt.

According to sources, these 42 information officers of BPS-17 were directly appointed in the tenure of caretaker government in early months of 2013, violating all the rules and regulations and bypassing the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).

Interestingly, these appointments are also the violation of ban imposed by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Soon after their appointment in BPS-17, the Accountant General Sindh Office objected on the recruitment process and forwarded a letter to secretary for Services General Administration and Coordination Department (SG&ACD).

According to a letter exclusively available with Daily Times, “The policy of the Services General Administration and Coordination Department on the matter including clarification regarding ban period is still awaited. In this regard, the necessary clarification was also sought from the Election Commission of Pakistan, which has been received vide Election Commission of Pakistan on June 27, 2013.”

Initially, the advertisement published in the local dailies with a condition that candidates must have MA in Mass Communication. However, the condition was changed within few days and new condition was MA Social Sciences. The interviews for the jobs were held secretly, however, the electronic media reported the news that the interviews continued till late in the night.

According to sources, these information officers were appointed purely on contract basis for a period of two years while they received salaries from the secret funds of the Information Department for months. Again, Information Department former secretary Zulfikar Shalwani gave these contractual employees one-year extension in their contract.

The contractual employees and their political affiliations include Shahrukh Shah, relative of MNA Khursheed Shah, Shakeel Haque Memon, son of Director Advertisement Yasmeen Memon, Aamir Raza, son of PPP leader, Keenjhar Fayaz, wife of PPP leader, Sikandar Ali Malik, friend of Sharjeel Memon and anchor of KTN News, Adnan Khan, relative of PPP leader, Abbas Ali Shah, son of PPP leader, Sabin Farooq on MQM quota from Hyderabad, Abdul Qayoom Solangi, son of PPP leader, Ullab Ali, son of PPP leader, Mohsin Hassan, son of PPP’s photographer Zahid Hussein, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, son of PPP leader, Ali Ahmed, son of PPP leader, Kamran Ahmed, son of PPP leader, Ali Murad Pitafi, relative of PPP MPA Imdad Pitafi, Raheem Bux, son of PPP leader, Shabbir Ali on MQM quota, Sajid Ali Qureshi, son of PPP leader, Waheedullah Maitlo, son of PPP leader, Nawaz Ali alias Danish Memon, cousin of Sharjeel Memon, Syed Shahrukh Ali Shah, son of PPP leader, Sarfaraz Samo, son of PPP leader, Sharmeen Shafiq Khan, daughter of PPP leader, Hassan Latif, son of PPP leader with MA Economics, Imdad Ali, son of PPP leader, Syed Aijaz Rasool Shah, PPP quota, Zeeshan Ali, son of PPP’s ex-MPA Qambar Ali Leghari, Jan Muhammad, son of PPP leader, Aijaz Khokhar, friend of Sharjeel Memon, Asif Ali Dero, son of PPP leader, Ghulam Raza on MQM quota, Muhammad Hussain on PPP quota, Abdul Wahab on PPP quota, Javed Hussain Mehar on PPP quota, Mairaj Ahmed Khan on PPP quota, Zubair Ahmed Memon, cousin of Sharjeel Memon and Director Yasmeen Memon, Liaquat Ali, relative of PPP MNA Rafiq Jamali, Irfan Ali on PPP quota and Ali
Ahmed, brother of Director Mansoor Rajput.

Daily Times repeatedly tried to contact Sindh Chief Secretary Siddique Memon to seek his official version. However, his cell phone remained unattended.