Daily Times

The creation of five top level seats in Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) including one post of senior director general in BPS 21 and four posts of director generals in BPS 20 has irritated the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which contended that the media watchdog cannot do the same without approval from the establishment and finance divisions.

The PEMRA in its meeting held last month had approved the creation of these posts. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a letter- the copy of which is available with Daily Times, has conveyed its concerns over the creation of new posts.

It merits mentioning here that the decision of creating these seats was taken in a meeting which could not be attended by the secretary information because of contracting Covid-19.

According to the ministry, this act is absolutely in contravention of the Finance Division’s office memorandum of July 15, 2021, which bans the creation of new posts in government departments, except those required for development projects and approved by the competent authority.

The ministry’s letter highlights that the Secretary and Director General (HR) PEMRA Headquarters did not convey the directives of the Finance Division to the authority members that are required to be complied in letter and spirit by all the ministries, divisions and departments. According to the letter, the annual expenditure of PEMRA for the last fiscal year was Rs 2,634 million and the organization’s overall strength of regular employees is 593. It noted that creation of five new top seats would swell the overall expenditure of the organization. “In this era, the system is progressing towards the convergence based on rationalization of officers and employees in line with the present day needs, the letter stated, and raised questions on the performance and efficiency of top management of PEMRA.

The ministry in its letter reiterated that there is no concrete justification for the creation of five top seats in the authority. “The proposal for creation of posts at any level is to be fully justified with the work requirements and estimated burden on national exchequer, and is required to be referred to the Austerity Committee constituted by the Finance Division and to be approved by the competent authority”.

The ministry also emphasized that the restructuring or expansion plan must be in accordance with the Rules of Business 1973 as PEMRA falls under the administrative domain of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. “It is against the rules and procedures that the federal secretary information was fully circumvented whilst restructuring the organization.

The information ministry has asked the PEMRA to rescind the creation of the posts, warning that any appointment by promotion or any other means on the posts of senior director general and director generals will be tantamount to administrative and financial misconduct, and will be dealt with accordingly.