NAB keeping an eye out for illicit hiring: former NA speakers

The purported illicit hiring practices at the lower house of parliament’s secretariat have been brought to the attention of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Sources claim that the National Assembly Secretariat has received a letter from the NAB requesting information about appointments made to its office between March 2018 and March 2024.

The letter requests information on the hiring practices of previous NA speakers Raja Pervez Ashraf and Asad Qaiser. In addition, the anti-graft agency has asked whether or not the finance ministry authorized these hires.

It has also posed inquiries about the hiring procedure for these workers, such as whether or not they took part in examinations and interviews.

The secretariat has also been questioned by NAB over whether or not employment postings for these positions were printed in newspapers.

The secretariat has been instructed by the anti-graft authority to provide distinct information on daily earnings as well as contractual and permanent staff members. We are compiling all of the recruiting statistics from both of the previous speakers’ term.

In 2022, a local newspaper revealed that Qaiser had, throughout his tenure, reportedly recruited and promoted people within the NA Secretariat in violation of the organization’s policies and procedures.

The publication, citing sources, said that the former NA speaker appointed and promoted more than 200 members of his constituency’s secretariat staff.

Additionally, Tahir Qadeem, Qaiser’s brother-in-law, was deputated to Islamabad after being temporarily assigned as a grade-17 officer to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Afterwards, he gave his brother-in-law a permanent appointment to the NA.

Additionally, it stated that on April 2, 2022, Qaiser had promoted nine officers in violation of the guidelines.

Additionally, the day before the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan, he upgraded his brother-in-law to grade 19.

There was no working paper created for the promotions, nor were they on the agenda.

Subsequent to the government transition, former NA speaker Ashraf became aware of the purportedly illicit recruitments carried out by his predecessor.

A report on previous recruiting practices in the NA Secretariat was requested by Ashraf.

He inquired about the areas in which individuals were hired and the names of those appointed by delegation.

Ashraf also want to know who was being promoted unlawfully.

The PPP leader’s personal history is clouded in dispute. Nine rental power projects (RPPs) were given contracts by the PPP government in 2009 to supply electricity to the nation as a temporary fix. These RPPs included both foreign and domestic companies, such as Turkey’s Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretin.

Prior to becoming premier, Ashraf served as the federal minister of water and electricity at the time the deal was signed.

The NAB accused him of accepting commissions and bribes from the nine RPPs in exchange for giving contracts to establish their initiatives in 2008 to help the nation out of its electrical crisis.

But in all these cases, the courts ultimately cleared him.