Sindh’s bureaucrats assured NAB won’t bother them

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Lt-General (retired) Nazir Ahmed Butt has assured the civil servants in Sindh that NAB will not interfere with their work as they should continue to play a vital role in the advancement of Pakistan.

He gave the assurance to senior civil servants in Sindh while addressing them at the Sindh Secretariat on Monday. It was his first interaction and dialogue with them since he assumed his office, a statement said, adding that earlier he had taken into confidence the business community and investors.

He told the senior provincial government officials that he was introducing reforms in the functioning of the bureau, and no officer would be subjected to media trial during the inquiry and verification stages of an accountability reference.

He told the senior civil servants that the NAB from now onwards would not entertain applications sent anonymously or under fictitious names. He said the prospective applicants should send complaints to NAB with a solemn undertaking to take responsibility for their allegations.

The NAB chief said that he knew very well the pressure being faced by the bureaucrats. He conceded that development projects were being delayed due to accountability references being pursued by NAB. He said the projects should be timely completed.

He announced the establishment of a facilitation desk at the office of the Sindh chief secretary to look into the reservations and complaints of provincial bureaucrats about NAB. He said he had been holding Khuli Kachehri to listen to the issues of the public.

Earlier, Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam introduced the civil servants to the NAB chairman. He told the meeting that punitive action was being taken against the officials responsible for embezzlement in pension funds.