ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that the ban on fresh recruitments would continue; however, vacancies advertised on or before August 31, 2012, will be allowed to fill.
The ECP has also announced that diversion of funds from ongoing to new projects will remain banned; however, requests from foreign donors’ to divert funds from one project to another will be considered by the commission on a case-to-case basis. According to the decision made public on Friday, the ECP said that the minister of law and justice, through his letter dated January 29, 2013, had sought a review of the directive of January 22, 2013, issued by the ECP, whereby it had ordered a ban on fresh recruitments and diversion of development funds to new projects.
In its directives the commission had ordered that all kinds of recruitments in any ministry, division, department or institution of the federal government or any department or institution of any provincial and local governments is banned forthwith except recruitments by the federal or provincial public service commissions. “That diversion of funds already allocated to various development projects in the country is banned forthwith and the spending of funds so diverted shall stand frozen forthwith,” the ECP had ordered.
The letter from the law minister and other similar requests from various ministries, divisions, departments were considered by the ECP in its meeting on Wednesday, and after detailed deliberations, the commission resolved that the ban on all kinds of recruitments and diversion of funds will continue. It was decided that some of the requests for grant of permission to make recruitments in relaxation of ban were genuine and required sympathetic consideration; and some misperceptions about the directive require clarification.
On Friday, the ECP stated that all vacancies which were advertised on or before August 31, 2012, are outside the purview of its directive and may be filled. All appointments shall be made strictly in accordance with the rules applicable to such appointments and purely on merit. The institutions established under the constitution are exempted from the ban on recruitments. Requests from ministries/divisions/departments or institutions of the federal government or any department or institution of any provincial or local government, including health and education department, will be considered on a case-to-case basis by the commission.
The ECP noted that the development projects already in progress where no diversion of funds is required may continue without interruption. Requests from foreign donors’ to divert funds from one project to another will be considered by the commission on a case-to-case basis.Diversion of funds in respect of projects of strategic importance will also be considered by the ECP on a case-to-case basis. No funds will be diverted from an ongoing project to a new or existing development project in any constituency. – DailyTimes
