KARACHI, July 28: Treasury members in the City Council slammed the bureaucracy for bypassing the city district government Karachi and ignoring it in matters of transfers and postings in the education department, thereby creating a rift between the CDGK and the Sindh government.
A heated debate took place in the council when a treasury member tabled a resolution in the house after the transfer of an education official, allegedly involved in corruption, from Lyari to Gulberg by the secretary education without the consent of the city nazim.
Initiating the debate, treasury member Imran Ahmed alleged that the EDO Lyari was involved in cases of corruption. To support his contention the treasury member unfurled a letter from Naib Nazim of Lyari Town Abdullah Rahim Baloch and submitted newspaper reports.
Instead of taking action against a corrupt official and conducting an inquiry into the complaints made against him, Mr Ahmed said the secretary education transferred the official and posted him to Gulberg without consulting the city government.
He regretted that the education officials were being issued orders directly by the secretary education disregarding the CDGK, alleging that the “officials who do not comply with the orders of the secretary are being threatened.”
The treasury accused the bureaucracy of creating a rift between the two coalition partners – the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. The idea behind the submission of the resolution was not to target the provincial government but to expose the “traditional tactics” being employed by the bureaucracy, it was said.
Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil, who presided over the session, on a point of order allowed opposition member Yusuf Naz to make his submissions in the house on the issue.
Taking the floor, Mr Naz argued that he was not in favour of any corrupt official, saying that action must be taken against anyone involved in corrupt practices.
‘Trivial issue’
The opposition leader said it was a trivial issue and added that “the treasury, being part of the coalition government, should not submit such petty issues in the house.”
He reminded the treasury that newspapers also published stories of corruption against the city nazim, but that did not mean all such stories were correct.
However, he pointed out that “this house should have the right to know about the details of the cases against the officials.” He suggested that a circular containing the charges against the officials should have been issued in the house. “We will support any positive issue for the benefit of the city,” he added.
Reciprocating the sentiments of the opposition member, leader of the house Asif Siddiqui argued that since there was no confusion among the house members on the issue, the resolution should be submitted for voting.
The resolution was also supported by treasury leaders Masood Mehmood and Arshad Iqbal.
Mr Mehmood said the root-cause of the present problem was the devolution formula, which was not applied to the education system. He was of the view that since the education system had not been devolved, the provincial bureaucracy still reigned supreme over the system and it was totally bypassing the city district government, thereby creating confusion.
“We are not against the government; we are a part of it. However, we are exposing the tricks being played by the bureaucracy,” he observed.
Mr Iqbal also criticized the role of the bureaucracy for ignoring the CDGK when taking vital decisions. He said that whoever was involved in corruption must not go unpunished.
Abdul Razzak, an opposition member, said it appeared that charges against the official had been turned into a confrontation pitting the CDGK against the Sindh government.
He said he failed to understand the motive behind the submission of the resolution. “If there are cases of corruption against any official, both the CDGK and the Sindh government are empowered to take action against him.”
Nepotism
Another opposition member, Naseem, said: “whoever comes to power inducts his own people to run the system,” adding that the issue was unnecessarily being played up. “There are more issues related to education, such as the standard of education and the plight of schools, which must be debated in the house,” he observed.
However, when the convener tabled the resolution to seek the verdict, the opposition staged a walkout. Thereafter the resolution was adopted unanimously.
The resolution says: “This meeting of the City Council directed the Executive District Officers (EDOs) Education of the group of officers to take necessary action, with the approval of the city nazim, if any vacancy exists or promotion (is to) be made.”
Later, the house also adopted another resolution unanimously, which approves a weekly amount of Rs50,000 for the laboratory of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to meet its day-to-day emergency needs.
The resolution was supported by opposition leader Juman Darwan, who applauded the performance of the hospital. Opposition leader Islamuddin suggested that the Civil Hospital should also be given under the supervision of the city district government.
Later, the convener adjourned the session to meet again on August 4 at 11.30am.
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