LAKKI MARWAT: The local government and rural development department has suspended 15 secretaries of village councils in Bannu for negligence on their part in the polio eradication initiative.

An official of the district administration said on Sunday that the suspended secretaries had not attended the meetings of polio eradication committees in their respective union councils. He said that under the standard operating procedures (SOPs), the participation of the village/neighbourhood council secretary in such meetings was mandatory.

“Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hameed Khan took serious notice of the matter while chairing a meeting of district polio eradication committee and directed relevant authorities of local government and rural development department to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the negligent staffers,” he said.

He said that the suspended officials included Ahmad Jehangir, Alamzeb, Nauman, Shakir, Minhajuddin, Abdul Ghafoor, Asmatullah, Tahir Azam, Imtiaz Wazir, Azaibullah, Rafidullah, Noor Khadin, Irfanullah, Asad Aziz and Jasim.

The official said that the secretaries were suspended from service for a period of three months under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Servants Efficiency and Discipline Rules, 2011.

“A three-member inquiry committee comprising Usman Bahadar, the assistant director of the department, as its chairman and Zahoor Khan, supervisor, and Sheryar Khan Wazir, computer operator, as its members has been constituted with the directions to submit a fact-finding report within seven working days,” he said.

The deputy commissioner said that government officials engaged in the polio eradication initiative would face stern action in case they indulged in negligence and remained absent from important meetings.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024