ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Food Security and Research (MoFS&R) which heads at least 19 attached departments/organizations, has not appointed a regular head of its important organization, Department of Plant Protection (DPP) for the past over 12 years.
The DPP, which with its various wings performs regulatory, advisory, research, and extension roles in the arena of plant protection in Pakistan, is left with officials holding acting charges for years.
As per documents, the important department has been working without a head official since October, 2020, whereas it has been without a regular director general (DG) for over a decade now.
Through a notification issued on May 21, 2022, the ministry has again given the look after charge of Director General of DPP to a junior officer Director (technical) Alla Ditta Abid till further order. The Director, as per documents, is already facing inquiries at NAB and FIA. Besides, his posting as acting DG DPP has also been challenged in Sindh High Court.
Earlier the acting charge was given to Director Tariq Khan multiple times (for three periods of three months).
According to documents available with this scribe, three FIA inquiries ENQ-21/2021, No. 68/2021, No. 518/2021 and one NAB inquiry No. 4924/19 are currently in process against the ministry and officials of its plant protection department.
Insiders claim that an influential group within the ministry and DPP doesn’t allow appointment of regular DG. Despite clear directions from the Prime Minister in 2019, for appointing a DG from the open market, the issue is still pending.
Following the direction MoFS&R had advertised the post in January 2020 and shortlisted 3 candidates but the ministry re-advertised the post in January 2021 for unknown reasons and conducted interviews on February 25 and 26 2021. However the appointment remains again delayed to date as the influential group wants to run the DPP on a temporary basis.
Interestingly, the department is left without the regular head despite various cases of corruption, irregularities and mismanagement on the part of top officials of the department.
An insider claimed that the certain group within the ministry and DPP did not want a senior, competent or honest man to head the department. According to them, the ministry has repeatedly been recommending the names of junior officials, against whom cases are under investigation at FIA and NAB, for the post.
When contacted the secretary MoFS&R Hassan Zafar, didn’t reply to queries shared with him, till filing of this story.
It may be added here that last year the Establishment Division had directed all the ministries/divisions to avoid misuse of ‘look after charge’ as the officers who are assigned this responsibility cannot use administrative or financial powers.
In a letter to all the ministries/divisions, the Establishment Division had stated that a number of instances have come to the notice of Establishment Division where the ministries/divisions have been found indulging in the practice of assigning look after charge of higher post to an officer during the absence of its actual incumbent which causes administrative/financial inconvenience. In this context, Establishment Division has clarified that there is no provision of look after charge in Civil Servants Act, 1973 and Rules made there under, rather an officer can be deputed temporarily as an internal arrangement to look after the work of another post for disposal of day to day work of urgent and routine nature in the ministry/division/organization concerned.
