Cash-strapped AJK plans to buy new luxurious vehicles for ministers, bureaucrats

Facing a revenue shortfall of around 7 billion in the current fiscal year, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government is reportedly contemplating buying over three dozen new luxurious vehicles for cabinet members and senior bureaucrats, notwithstanding growing criticism of “reckless extravagance” with the exchequer of the cash-strapped region in this regard.

According to well placed sources, the preliminary process has been initiated by the concerned authorities for purchase of as many as 16 reconditioned 4200cc Parado jeeps worth Rs 10 million each and 23 brand new 1800cc Toyota Corolla Grande cars worth Rs 2.5 million each.

A 4700cc Land Cruiser Jeep worth Rs 25 million is also being separately purchased for Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, sources added.

Approval to purchase of new vehicles for ministers was given by the cabinet on April 18 after the ex-agenda item was tabled by none other than the prime minister.

However, as yet it’s not clear as to where the funds will be arranged from for the “unwarranted shopping” as the Finance Department is already struggling hard to seek additional funds from Islamabad to reduce revenue shortfall that sources say has made it difficult for the government to pay salaries and pensions before Eid.

The decision to buy new vehicles comes amid an overlong wait for a comprehensive transport policy dealing with purchase, allotment and use of official vehicles.

Misuse of vehicles a chronic issue

According to conservative estimates, there are more than 6000 official vehicles in the 13297 sq. km AJK territory, which has scanty fiscal resources of its own and (thus) banks mostly on grants from the Centre to meet most of its needs. 

Due to the alleged prodigality of successive governments, the “accumulative shortfall” since 2009-10 has soared to about Rs 25 billion and as a result payment of salaries and pensions turns out be a thorn in the side of the government every month, particularly after it exceeds its overdraft limit of Rs 4.5 billion and the State Bank stops clearance of its cheques.

Under the existing transport policy of 1993, cabinet members are entitled to two official vehicles, while the secretaries, including the chief secretary, are entitled to one official vehicle.

However, hardly a few secretaries follow this rule, while the majority brazenly possesses two to three additional vehicles.

Similar is the case with senior police officers, almost all of whom are in possession of two to three extra vehicles.

Official vehicles are being occupied even by those officials who do not qualify for their allotment.

The logbooks of such vehicles are maintained fictitiously, sources say, adding, wear and tear of official vehicles is another big source of embezzlement of millions of rupees every year in the absence of an effective monitoring system.

PML-N government’s claim

Since the alleged unjustified purchase of official vehicles and their unauthorized allotment and unchecked use had drawn scathing criticism from media and civil society in PPP rule, the PML-N government had vowed to address this issue on a priority basis.

At a cabinet meeting in October last year, it had decided to replace the existing transport policy with a new one.

However, ever since assuming office, the PML-N government has not enforced even any cosmetic measure as a precursor to a stringent policy about the allotment and utilization of official vehicles, lamented the sources.

A source told this scribe that after the cabinet decision, secretaries were asked to furnish details about the vehicles in their respective departments within one week. But none of them complied and none was made accountable for the lapse.   

“It appears the announcement regarding transport policy was just an eye-wash because neither the cabinet members nor the bureaucrats want enforcement of a tough policy that can eventually deprive them of the boon of retaining additional vehicles,” remarked one official on condition of anonymity.  

In December 2011, the then PPP government had constituted a 4-member committee, led by the then additional chief secretary general Aizaz Nasim, to collect details about official transport and indicate the officers using official vehicles beyond entitlement. The committee was also tasked to submit proposals for implementation of (existing) transport policy to control misuse of official vehicles. 

The report, a copy of which is available with this scribe, points out abuse of vehicles in detail and suggests 35 measures to arrest the unlawful practices in this regard.

However, the PPP government sat over the report over the next five years. 

“That report was enough to pull the plug on misuse of official vehicles. But, when it comes to arresting misuse of official vehicles, it seems that Raja Farooq Haider government is not different than Chaudhry Abdul Majeed led previous PPP government,” commented the official.

“When the public representatives, including the prime minister, are not ready to surrender extra vehicles, you should not expect the bureaucracy to withdraw unwarranted privileges,” he added.

When contacted by this scribe, Finance Minister Dr Najeeb Naqi dispelled the impression that the PML-N government was following the previous PPP regime regarding misuse of official vehicles.

“It were we who reclaimed many official vehicles from Zardari House after assuming office,” he said, but didn’t provide the number.

He claimed that a cabinet sub-committee tasked to revisit transport policy would present its recommendations in next cabinet meeting.

When asked if the committee will suggest some toughest measures to control the unlawful trend of misusing official vehicles, he said since he was not its member he could not say anything about it with certainty.

“We will ensure that the criteria for allotment and use of official vehicles is strictly followed,” he said.

Tariq Naqash 

AJK Ehtesab Bureau summons Women University VC in appointments case

The vice chancellor and some other officials of a nascent public sector university in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have been summoned by the Ehtesab Bureau to record their statements on alleged irregularities and favoritism in appointments and other administrative matters, it has been learnt.

Dr Muhammad Haleem Khan, Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (WUAJK), Bagh, and Registrar Dr Mohammad Riaz had been asked to appear before the bureau’s director (investigations) Sardar Ilyas Khan in Muzaffarabad respectively on May 16 and 17, while members of the varsity’s scrutiny/selection committee as well as a complainant would appear on May 18, according to the relevant sources.

The WUAJK was established by an Act of the AJK Assembly in 2014, and the then secretary higher education Dr Saima Shahjehan was appointed its VC as a stopgap arrangement.

Dr Haleem was appointed as her successor on May 2, 2014 for a three-year term.

 According to a comprehensive complaint filed in October last year by Shahzad Khan, a civil society activist from Bagh, the WUAJK officials had made a “mockery” of the rules as well as judgments of the AJK Supreme Court in making appointments against as many as 83 gazetted posts.

The advertisement for permanent appointment against these B-16 and B-17 posts in 32 different departments was published in January 2015, in response to which some 500 candidates had submitted applications.

The WUAJK hired National Testing System (NTS) for recruitment, which conducted written exam in September 2015 while interviews were held after two months.

The record submitted by the complainant, almost all of which was also obtained by this scribe, and an initial inquiry into it revealed that the varsity had “thrown dust into the eyes of the candidates” by recruiting the already serving employees “in a questionable manner.”

As the WUAJK had adopted the rules, regulations, policies and statues of the University of AJK, Muzaffarabad, to run its affairs, it was required to invite the top five successful candidates in written exam for interviews.

However, following the written exam results, the WUAJK invited all candidates for interviews allegedly to ensure that the favorites, most of them already serving employees, were not left out.

Candidates were shocked to see that almost all of the permanent appointees were those who had failed to make it to the top five in the written exam, “in what amounted to frustrating rather mocking the perceived purpose of involving NTS in recruitment process.”

In one of the several such examples, a candidate who was beyond 40th position in written exam was also declared successful.

Similarly, a candidate with one 3^rd division also got permanent appointment, even though his competitors included those who had secured first divisions throughout their academic career.

Under the Higher Education Commission (HEC) rules, a person with single third division in educational career cannot be hired as faculty member.

However, in order to accommodate favorites, the WUAJK administration misled the HEC to obtain relaxation of this rule, by citing “non-availability” of faculty in the “hard area.”

Even a candidate, who had secured only 43 marks below the passing criteria of WUAJK, was gifted with appointment against the post of programmer.

The complainant had cited several other cases of favoritism and irregularities.

For example, an ex-serviceman was appointed as chief security officer on June 25, 2014, but he was assigned the task of making purchases for the varsity on June 10, two weeks before his appointment.

Sources said that initial investigation into the complaint was conducted by director (complaints) Amjad Minhas and on his report the case was transferred to director (investigations) Sardar Ilyas Khan by Ehtesab Bureau Chairman Raja Ghazanfar Ali.

Sources also claimed that WUAJK administration had planned to stall bureau’s proceedings on this case but had to cut a sorry figure after AJK President Sardar Masood Khan, who happens to be the chancellor of all public sector varsities, did not agree, and instead advised them to defend themselves before the bureau if they were not guilty.

Interestingly, in a bizarre move, Dr Haleem had obtained a 2-year extension on March 9, 2016 from the then President (and chancellor) Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan, more than 14 months before the expiry of his 3-year term.

Tariq Naqash 

Students across AJK show solidarity with their brethren in IHK

Thousands of schoolchildren, accompanied by sizeable number of adults, staged rallies and demonstrations across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday to condemn unceasing Indian atrocities on innocent people of held Kashmir, particularly the recent crackdowns on educational institutions, and show solidarity with the victims.

Drawn from state-run institutions, the students paraded through the streets in almost all major cities and towns, holding banners and placards, inscribed with a variety of slogans calling for an end to the state sponsored terrorism in held Kashmir as well as intervention of the United Nations (UN) and international community for an early solution to the lingering dispute, in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiri people.

Students gather at Burhan Wani Chowk for solidarity show

In state capital Muzaffarabad, the protesting students first gathered at Burhan Wani Chowk near Press Club, where they were briefly addressed by AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, Minister for Education Barrister Iftikhar Gillani, renowned Kashmiri activists Uzair Ghazali and Mushtaqul Islam and some representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC).

 Some of the students were holding black flags while some were carrying national flags of Pakistan and AJK, which they kept on waiving throughout the demonstration.

After the speeches were over, the gathering, led by the AJK premier, marched towards the office of the UN Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) near Domel, where a protest note was delivered to the UN observers.

Young girls enthusiastically chant anti India slogans

All along the march, participants kept on chanting slogans: “Hai haq hamara azadi, hum cheen k lain gay azadi (freedom is our right and we will snatch it).”

Speaking to correspondents on the occasion, young boys and girls said they were deeply impressed and inspired by the outstanding gallantry of Kashmiri youth while challenging a ferocious army equipped with lethal weapons.

“Our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters in occupied Kashmir who have been braving the worst ever repression of modern history at the hands of brute Indian forces… I pay salute to their heroism,” said Tayyiba Batool a tenth grade student.

“The Pharaoh and Nimrod also considered themselves the mightiest but eventually they were devastated by the Allah Almighty, and same will happen to their likes in today’s world,” she added in an attempt to give solace to the oppressed Kashmiris.

Many also lamented the silence of the UN and said it was high time the World Body played its long-overdue role in resolving the longest pending issue on its agenda to justify its creation and existence.

“As a result of the unrelenting repression by Indian troops, the calamitous situation in the held Valley warrants for immediate action by the UN. And if the UN does not rise to the occasion, there is no point of having such a toothless and worthless organization,” said Daniyal Mumtaz, wearing traditional Boy Scout uniform.

He said the demonstrations were a message that notwithstanding the bloody line that separated Kashmiris from each other, people on this side of the divide were fully conscious and concerned about the sufferings of their brethren in held Kashmir.

AJK premier leads the rally towards UN office

Responding to question by some media persons, PM Haider called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to ensure stoppage of atrocities on the Kashmiris as well as their freedom from Indian yoke, “because it was his responsibility as leader of the Quaid-e-Azam’s party.”

He said the Kashmiris wanted a peaceful solution to their problem and would give another chance to the UN and world community to make it happen.

“Otherwise the responsibility of further aggravation of situation will not rest on the Kashmiris,” he said. 

Participants of a similar rally in Rawalakot, led by deputy commissioner Poonch Raja Tahir Mumtaz, also presented a memorandum to the UN observers in the town.

Similar rallies were held not only at all district headquarters, but also at many tehsil headquarters in AJK.

Tariq Naqash

PML-N govt takes moral low-ground in offering package to retired 'lent officers'

IGP Bashir Ahmed Memon

IGP Memon declines the package and asks govt to revoke it

A Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officer, belonging to interior Sindh, has won the hearts and minds of people in the country’s extreme north by turning down an attractive post-retirement package offered by the cash-strapped Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government.

Ever since, the response of Bashir Ahmed Memon, Inspector General of Police (IGP) in AJK, is in circulation, the social media has been flooded with comments eulogizing his “exceptional” gesture in a society where majority of the government servants carries the notoriety of screwing benefits out of official kitty. 

At the same time, the PML-N led AJK government is also under scathing criticism for “doling out taxpayers’ money” in sheer disregard to its tall claims on fiscal and administrative reforms.

It was on March 28, when the AJK Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) clandestinely issued a notification to supplement the facilities admissible to the chief secretaries under an earlier notification issued on June 15, 2006 when the region was reeling from the aftereffects of a devastating earthquake. 

Through the June 15, 2006 notification, which was renewed on June 4, 2011, the chief secretaries were offered the services of a cook and a driver for lifetime, after their retirement, from the AJK taxpayers’ money.

S&GAD notification

The March 28 notification not only added 800 free local phone calls, 800 units of electricity, 25 cubic hectometre (25million cubic metre) gas and 200 litres petrol per month to the post-retirement benefits of the chief secretaries but it went on to declare the admissibility of the same benefits to the IGPs as well, after their retirement.

The chief secretaries and IGPs are posted in AJK by the federal government under Karachi agreement of 1949 for a tenure that has rarely exceeded three years. They are commonly referred to as ‘lent officers.’

While the chief secretaries, already enjoying the services of cook and driver, were happy with the additional facilities, the response of IGP Memon to the notification not only baffled the government but it also plunged her to moral low ground, sources within the bureaucracy confided to this scribe.

 “Prima facie, these privileges would amount to putting additional burden on the exchequer of the state (AJK),” Memon maintained in a demi-official letter to Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, a copy of which was available with this scribe.

 “The AJK IGPs belong to the Police Service of Pakistan (group) and their services are acquired from the federal government for a limited period, during which they enjoy all those perks and privileges admissible to this office… And I also draw an attractive salary and other benefits for my services here,” he added.

Continuing, Memon said holding the office of IGP and leading the police force in AJK with honor and dignity was in itself a great privilege and a matter of pride for him.

“I am thankful to the Almighty as well as the government and people of Azad Kashmir for the love and respect I enjoy here and does not consider myself worthy of these benefits, particularly when the AJK police is already facing acute shortage of manpower,” Mr Memon said, and called upon Mr Haider to revoke the notification from the date of issuance.

IGP Memon with this scribe

When contacted, Memon confirmed that he had asked the government to withdraw the notification in the wake of its poor fiscal health and pressing local needs.

He said he earnestly believed that there was no justification for the ‘lent officers’ to claim these benefits from the AJK exchequer, a place where they served for a short term.  

“To me, my constable serving in front of Indian guns along the Line of Control or the families of retired junior grade police personnel deserve this amount more than a retired IGP,” he said. 

Civil society was all praise for Memon.

“Hats off to Mr Memon. He has touched our hearts and taught a lesson to the local official machinery which always runs for more and more perks and privileges,” said Arisha Ali Khan, an MPhil student from Mirpur.

Defending the decision, AJK minister for finance Dr Najeeb Naqi maintained that since all other provinces, particularly Punjab, were offering same or more benefits to retired chief secretaries and IGPs, “we have just replicated them.”

When he was reminded that unlike Punjab AJK faced acute shortage of funds every month, even for payment of salaries and pension, he claimed that the additional funds for these benefits would also be provided by the central government.”

But there was hardly any voice in favour of the government.

 “The IGP’s response is a slap in the face of a government that has gone back on its promises to curtail unnecessary expenditures,” remarked Raja Mansoor, a civil society activist from Muzaffarabad.

 “In fact the IGP has exposed the duplicity of this deficit ridden government that flatters lent officers with generous offers in spite of carrying a begging bowl to seek funds from Islamabad,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that the AJK government has been facing an “accumulative shortfall” of about Rs 25 billion in its receipts and expenditures since 2009-10.

Every month, payment of salaries and pensions turns out be a thorn in the side of the government as State Bank of Pakistan stops clearance of its cheques, when it exceeds its overdraft limit of Rs 4.5 billion.

A ruling PML-N activist was among those who showered praise on Memon.

“By refusing to accept these perks, Mr Memon has tried his bit to inculcate sense among us. He will always be appreciated and remembered by us for his professionalism, humility and compassion,” said Sohail Iqbal Awan, a resident of Muzaffarabad.

Memon, who hails from Hala in Mitiari district, was posted as AJK IGP in March 2016.

Unlike most of his predecessors, he is thoroughly unpretentious and moves around without police escorts.

During the days of his posting in Sindh, he had faced three transfers in three years reportedly due to his straightforwardness.

Tariq Naqash 

PML-N workers despondent over "inaction" against the corrupt

Activists of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) appear to be despondent over what they allege inaction of their government against the elements who had “feathered their nests” during the previous regimes.

A vocal Haji Jamshed Mir speaks at a press conference

“Now those elements have started mocking us for the very reason and that is very painful,” said Haji Jamshed Mir, one of the founding workers of PML-N in district Neelum, at a press conference in Muzaffarabad on Sunday.

Mir, who was flanked by several other activists, had opened an office of PML-N in his Dudhniyal village in the upper belt of Neelum valley in July 2009, almost one and a half years before the party was formally launched by Mr Nawaz Sharif in AJK.

His press talk was the first open expression of dissatisfaction with the policies of PML-N that clinched sweeping victory in 2016 polls and is believed to be close to the hearts of many party workers across the state.

Mir said he was at a loss to understand why the PML-N government in AJK had not been dealing with the people who had “brazenly lined their pockets with public money, particularly during the past five years of PPP rule.”

According to him, maximum corruption had been done in the execution of development schemes and appointments in different departments, mainly education.

Funds were doled out to favorites with impunity against development schemes worked up by local government and rural development, public works and other development related departments, but hardly any of those projects existed on the ground, he alleged.

Similarly, appointments were made either on the basis of inducements or political affiliations through suspicious and factitious advertisement and recruitment process, he added.

He said the forests were the most precious wealth of Neelum valley as well as the main source of its natural beauty, but the same had been unashamedly denuded by the timber mafia in collusion with corrupt officials of the forests department.

“There is no let up to illegal felling and smuggling of trees, even now, because neither the mafia nor their unscrupulous patrons in the forests department were taken to task by our party’s government after coming to power more than eight months ago,” he lamented.

Mir claimed that all these “corrupt practices” were known to the accountability related institutions as well as the top PML-N leadership in AJK, but they seemed to be held hostage by “political expediencies.”

“Tell me, has a single corrupt officer been penalized by our government after coming to power in July last year,” he questioned and added: “In fact, their indolence in this regard is plunging us in utter despondency.”

Mir said he was ready to prove his point at any forum, without any fear or favour.

He admitted that Legislative Assembly speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir, who has returned from Neelum valley, had got initiated some mega schemes in a short span of time, which could play a pivotal role in socio-economic uplift of the area.

However, he maintained, Mr Qadir also appeared to be helpless in taking those elements to task who had played havoc with the resources of valley.

“He is Legislative Assembly Speaker and does not enjoy any executive authority. The powers to bring corrupt officials and their henchmen vest with the prime minister who is yet to swing into action in accordance with his pre-election avowals,” he said.

Mir said the PML-N workers across AJK were equally discontented with their government’s policy about appointments against the discretionary posts.

“It’s we, the workers, who faced mistreatment for their opposition to the corrupt practices of previous regime but now when our party is in power we are being made to feel as aliens,” he said.

 “If the government considers the bureaucrats suitable for discretionary posts as well, then the cabinet slots should also be given to them, instead of the MLAs,” he said.

This scribe failed to reach Mr Qadir for his comments on Mir’s press talk, because he was on a tour to his constituency. 

Tariq Naqash