KARACHI: National Account­a­bi­lity Bureau (NAB) chairman retired Lieutenant General Nazir Ahmed visited the Sindh Secretariat on Monday, held a meeting with bureaucrats and assured them that the accountability watchdog would not harass them.

In the meeting, Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam introduced the officers to the NAB chairman.

According to a press release, the NAB chairman asked the officers to openly play their key role in the development of the country.

He said that he was bringing reforms in NAB and no officer would be subjected to a media trial during the process of ‘complaint verification’ and ‘inquiry’.

He said that anonymous complaints, or those written under fictitious names, would not be accepted in NAB.

Says anonymous complaints will not be entertained

The chairman said that he knew the bureaucrats were working under immense pressure and due to the ongoing cases, the development projects got delayed. This should not happen and the projects should be completed on time, he said.

He asked the bureaucrats to hold open kachehries and try to solve the problems of the people by listening to them in person.

He also announced to establish a facilitation desk at the office of the Sindh chief secretary to discuss concerns and complaints of officers of the provincial government. He said all-out measures would be taken to resolve such issues on a fast track basis.

He further said that all open kachehries would be conducted at NAB offices in order to ensure an ‘open-door’ policy and accessibility for all.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief secretary said that action was taken against officers involved in corruption in the pension fund in Sindh.

The director general of the NAB-Sindh, Javed Akbar Riaz, said that during the pension fund corruption investigation, some secretaries were asked to submit their replies and furnish relevant information on the basis of which NAB had conducted an inquiry.

The meeting was attended by Planning Board chairman Shakeel Ahmed Mangnejo, Additional Chief Secretary-Home Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Inspector General of Police Riffat Mukhtar Raja, Additional Chief Secretary-Local Government Manzoor Ali Sheikh, Senior Member Board of Revenue Zahid Abbasi, Anti-Corruption chairman Zulfiqar Ali Shah, General Administration Secretary Muhammad Ali Khoso, Information Secretary Nadeemur Rehman Memon and others.

All divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners attended the meeting via remote video link.

Earlier in December, the NAB chairman had also visited the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Lahore and met with civil servants there.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024