Junior clerk working as assistant director in LDA

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Umar Rasool says he has powers to choose his own team and can choose anyone for any job under his jurisdiction

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The employees of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) are extremely concerned over the abuse of power by the department officers, as the director general of the department has given a junior clerk the powers of a grade 17 officer.

The employees, in a letter sent to the top government authorities including the president of Pakistan, the chief justice, the prime minister, the governor and the chief minister stated that LDA Director General Umar Rasool has entrusted a junior clerk, Muhammad Saleem Raza, with the post of an assistant director (Law).

They stated that there are a lot of competent officers available to do the job but the said clerk has been given the powers, for being a favourite of the DG, which is not just an act of discrimination against the other employees, but also exposes the fact that the DG is running the department as his personal kingdom.

They also mentioned that there were a number of senior clerks working in the department and some of them even had law degrees and they were far more competent and suitable for the job. The employees also claimed that even if the junior clerk was given the same salary under the basic scale 5, there was clear possibility that he would definitely abuse the powers he has been awarded with.

They have urged the authorities concerned to take notice of the issue and also take action against the people who were responsible for it. However, Rasool told Daily Times that the DG had the powers to choose his own team and he could chose anyone for any job under his jurisdiction.

He said that he takes dozens of such decisions in routine and nobody should have any objection to his decisions, which he has taken under the authority he has been given by the government. Rasool further added that the LDA had later withdrawn the notification of Saleem Raza to serve as the assistant director after realising that they had some very able people to do the job.