ISLAMABAD: The Planning Commission of Pakistan, which is responsible for carrying out planning of the entire development of the country, has itself become the hub of infringement of law as appointments on lucrative posts were made in violation of rules and regulation in the commission.
Malik Ahmed Khan was appointed as Member (Infrastructure and Regional Connectivity) on political grounds as his father was the leader of ruling party PML(N) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in violation of appointment rules. At the time of his appointment, he had an MBA degree from abroad but did not fulfil the requirement of the experience. At that time, the total experience of the post was mentioned in the media advertisement was 15 years , but Malik Ahmed got his degree in 2011 and inducted in Planning Commission in 2014. The sources said that after expiry of contact, he had re-applied for the job and now the government was considering him as the most suitable person for the slot.
The second person who got appointed as Chief Economist in Planning Commission of Pakistan is Dr Nadim Javed, who is Ph.D in Economics but relatively junior than other candidates who had applied for the post in 2014. The prescribed experience for the Chief Economist’s post was also 15 years, but at the time of his induction he was given a special relaxation of five years in experience as he had worked in different fields for 10 years before joining the Planning Commission.
His 2 year tenure was completed in May 2016, but Ministry for Planning, Development and Reforms gave him an extension and other members for the period of three months. His second tenure had been exhausted last August, but he is still performing his duties as well as attending important meetings there.
However, the Islamabad High Court had already stopped Dr Nadim Javed from working after the Economist Group challenged his appointment on the grounds that the post belongs to the Group and a person from the private sector cannot be hired. When this reporter contacted Asim Khan, Advisor to Planning Minister, he said “I do not know when Malik Ahmad passed his MBA degree but I can say that the criteria for the post was 15 years compulsory experience for every candidate.” He added that the government was keeping all these standards in view while appointing members of the Planning Commission.
About the appointment of new members of the Planning Commission, he said that the commission had conducted the interviews of several candidates and names of shortlisted candidates were sent to the prime minister for approval. It is hoped that their induction will be made shortly.