ISLAMABAD: The human resource of Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (FS-HFA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has demanded a transparent inquiry into the alleged fraudulent recruitment process in connivance with Career Testing Services Pakistan (CTSP).
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority was established in 2017 for the purpose of ensuring Healthy & Hygienic food to the consumers of KPK province.
The documents available with The News Today revealed that finance committee of the Authority in 9th Authority meeting on 26th Aug 2019 clearly stated that new positions should be approved from the Authority. The summary should be forwarded to Chief Minister through Administrative Department, who may approve it.
After approval, 190 posts were advertised by previous administration that whereas current administration advertized 284
Recruitment process for upcoming positions was finally approved in Authority’s 8th meeting. After approval, 190 posts were advertised through Pakistan Testing Service (PTS) by previous administration that were cancelled by the current administration. The contract was later given to CTSP (Pvt) Ltd and 284 posts were advertised despite the facts that additional posts were not approved by the Authority Board.
Documentary evidence further disclosed that for Office Assistant (BPS 16) Authority Board in its 10th meeting on 24th October 2019 approved 11 posts while advertised posts were 27. This clearly shows 16 additional posts were advertised without approval from the Board.
Administration advertised 22 posts of accountants while board had approved only one
Similarly, only one post of Accountant (BPS-16) was approved in the Authority’s board meeting, whereas, advertised posts were 22. Twenty-one additional posts of accountants were without any approval.
A senior official of the Authority, on condition not to named, informed The News Today that current administration cancelled the recruitment process initiated by the previous administration through Pakistan Testing service.
After cancellation of the contract with M/S PTS, it was given to CTSP. As per agreement, CTSP (Pvt) Ltd would charge Rs. 275 (including all taxes & charges) per applicant but in actual, they charged higher Rs. 315 (Refer to Clause-4.16 of the Agreement of the Authority with CTSP), which is violation of the agreement signed between CTSP and Authority.
Sources informed that amount received by PTS has not been returned to the candidates nor there is any mechanism framed by the management in this regard.
Candidate for BPS-17 post obtained ‘Zero’ marks in test put on top in merit list
The documents further disclosed that a candidate named Hanif Ullah who applied for the position of Assistant Director Communications (BPS-17) had obtained ‘Zero’ marks in a screening test conducted by CTSP, while the testing service in its merit list put the name of candidate on top of the list.
The staff of the Authority sent an open letter to President of Pakistan on 8th September 2020 with all documentary evidence of allegedly fraudulent recruitment process in connivance with CTSP. They have demanded an open inquiry into the recruitment process of Food Safety and Halal Food Authority by investigation agencies.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CTSP Haroon while speaking The News Today said that it was the first time in the history that merit for recruitment in Food Authority KPK was maintained strictly. On the other hand, despite repeated attempts, Director General Authority, Sohail Khan could not be reached for comments on the issue.
