IT Ministry defies the rules by nominating the same Executive Director for the sixth time in a row

• Husnain Abbas Kazmi is submitted for the post of acting charge of ED for the sixth consecutive term.
• On July 2, 2022, the DG administration’s MP-II scale tenure would also come to an end.
• The ministry of IT wants to wrap up budget-related issues with its affiliated department.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom submitted Husnain Abbas Kazmi, the Director-General Administration National Information Technology Board (NITB), for the post of acting charge of Executive Director (ED) for the sixth consecutive term, in flagrant violation of the norms.

After getting the summary of acting charge of Executive Director from the IT ministry, the Establishment division referred it to the PM secretariat for a decision.

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On July 2, 2022, the DG administration’s MP-II scale tenure would also come to an end. According to sources, the ministry of IT wants to wrap up budget-related issues with its affiliated departments, and ED NITB sits on a number of boards.

The National Telecommunication Commission, for example, is unable to call a board meeting owing to a lack of quorum; however, if the PM secretariat authorizes the extension of ED NITB, the department would be able to have a board meeting, according to sources.

According to sources, the Ministry of IT&T also provided three names to the PM secretariat for the recruitment of the ED NITB, but the PM secretariat returned this summary due to the lack of candidate CVs.

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For the position of ED NITB, the MoIT&T had sent the names of Sohail Munir, Baber Majid Bhatti, and Syed Raza Ali Shah.

According to sources, contenders for the position of ED NITB were interviewed by a panel that included the federal minister for IT&T, Secretary IT&T, Member IT, Junaid Imam, Additional Secretary Establishment Division, Mirza Nasir ud din Mashhood Ahmad. It’s worth noting that the Establishment Division objected to the DG Administration NITB being given acting charge in January of this year.

According to the establishing division remarks, the MP scale 2021 policy does not contain any provision that authorises the grant of any charge of the post to an MP scale holder (Husnain Abbas Kazmi) in the instant circumstance.

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