The National Institute of Child Health (NICH) executive director concealed material facts from the administrative department and misrepresented the promotion case of the grade-14 accountant-cum-cashier to grade-17 superintendent of accounts, the health secretary told the Sindh Service Tribunal on Tuesday.
Filing comments on the service appeal filed by Mohammad Asif Awan against the appointment of the grade-17 accounts officer at the NICH, the secretary said the health department appointed Shahrukh Shaikh as accounts officer on September 16 against the vacant post at the NICH without affecting the appellant’s rights.
The secretary said that according to the MoU between the Sindh and federal governments, the provincial administration is authorised to make an offer of employment to any employee necessary or desirable for the functioning of the institution, and all such employees would revert to the provincial government upon the expiration of the said agreement.
The tribunal was informed that the appellant had been serving as an accountant-cum-cashier in grade 7 and the post had later been upgraded to grade 14. The secretary said the NICH ED had recommended the promotion of the appellant to superintendent of accounts, and so he had been promoted to the said post.
The secretary said the post of superintendent of accounts neither existed in the sanctioned strength of the NICH nor was available in the budget book at the time of the promotion. He said this clearly indicates that the NICH ED had concealed material facts from the administrative department and misrepresented the case, which is contrary to the law, the rules and the established procedure.
He said the accounts officer post at the NICH remained vacant for a considerable period, and accounts-related matters of the institution were not being managed properly, resulting in significant financial liabilities, as reflected in the audit reports of the past few years. He added that the department appointed an accounts officer to rectify the serious deficiency, and to ensure proper management of financial and accounting matters at the NICH, and that this posting was necessitated by the exigencies of public service and fiscal accountability.
