Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Water and Power and Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO) have entered into a tug of war over the recruitment in the IESCO and the Ministry declared all the appointments made against the posts vacant in the Company as null and void

Ministry declared all the appointments made by IESCO top management against vacant posts from BPS 1 to BPS-19 as illegal and decided to send all newly appointed 87 officers home, sources told daily Times, adding that IESCO has encroached upon all the norms of merit by making illegal appointments against the posts from BPS-1 to BPS -19 with pocketing money through corruption and bribery.

According to sources, Director BOD IESCO Al-e- Imran, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Muhammad Yusuf, Director General (DG) HRM Tariq Mehmood, Manager HR Ghulam Rasool, Regional Chairman Hydro Union Javed Baloch and General Secretary Islamabad Union Tahir Gul worked out on the list for recruitment against the vacant posts and they ignored the merit list. A sum of Rs 2 million to 2.5 million per seat was received from the applicants for the posts against BPS 17 to 19 while a sum of Rs 300000 to Rs 1000000 were collected per seat from the applicants for their appointment against the posts from BPS 1 to 16.

The IESCO awarded contract for recruitment against these posts to a private company, Resource Access, which charged Rs 450 to each candidate and earned Rs 35 million from the candidates. Resource Access is a private company and it was its first experience with regard to recruitment. Prior to it this company never took part in the process of recruitment of employees.

The candidates who were selected against the posts of officers were called to job immediately following compilation of final list. The candidates who fulfilled the merit norms and were not called by IESCO resorted to the court. In the back drop of this development 1900 persons who were appointed against the posts of BPS 1 to 16 could not be called.

Sources told this scribe that quota system was completely overlooked in the process of recruitment. NAB and FIA also conducted inquiry after the candidates approached Supreme Court and all the allegations proved true during the inquiry. NAB and FIA presented their report to Ministry of Water and Power and the Ministry directed the IESCO to cancel all the inductions and initiate the process of recruitment afresh.

The inquiry conducted by PEPCO also revealed that irregularities were committed in the process of recruitment.

Board of Directors approached the Ministry and placed their plea before them that they had incurred huge expenses on the training of the newly appointed persons and invested a lot of time. Therefore, they are allowed to work on their seats.

Sources said that the IESCO Board of Directors has gifted a new Toyota car to Minster for Water and Power so that the matter could be hushed up.

The IESCO started imparting training to newly appointed persons forthwith to cover up billion of rupees the corrupt elements collected from the candidates in return for their illegal induction against the posts. This move was absolutely wrong.

The Ministry officials told Daily Times that it had decided in the inquiry report these recruitments were illegal and the IESCO authorities were deliberately hampering the process of declaring these appointments null and void so that billion of rupees they collected from the candidates could be devoured. Now the ball is in IESCO court that what decision they take.

Sources said the Ministry is also prolonging the matter. On the other hand members of standing committee on government assurances also expressed their reservation on recruitment in IESCO and sought details in this respect from ministry of water and power.