Process to pick ETB chairman delayed

ISLAMABAD: The authorities have cancelled scheduled interviews for the selection of chairman Evacuee Trust Board (ETB). According to sources, the candidates were issued call letters to appear in the interview for the slot of chairman ETB on February 14, but now the same has been cancelled abruptly.

Previously, the interviews were to be conducted on November 29. But on November 28, the candidates were informed through text messages on their mobile phones that the interviews had been cancelled and the new date would be announced later.

It is pertinent to mention that the post of ETB chairman has remained vacant for the last nine months but officials are reluctant to explain the reason for the cancellation of interviews.

Earlier, former federal Railways secretary Syed Habibur Rehman Gilani was selected by the selection board as ETB chairman for nine months but was asked to tender resignation. Since then Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Joint Secretary Arshad Farid has been holding the additional charge of this post.

The selection board, headed by the Minister for Religious Affairs, also comprises federal secretaries for Establishment, Cabinet Division, Law and Justice and officers not less than BPS-21.

A list of 23 candidates, who would appear in the interview for the post, has also been shortlisted. Among others, former ETB chairman Habibur Rehman Gilani, senior Joint Secretary Religious Affairs Alamgir Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Nasir Akram, Dr Aamer Ahmad, Barrister Mudassar Ishaq and former IGP Kaleem Imam are in the list.