Recruitment of blue-eyed persons: Mardan mayor at loggerheads with PTI ministers

MARDAN: Mayor Mardan Himayatullah Mayar has been at loggerheads with the ministers and lawmakers of ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) over the alleged recruitment of blue-eyed persons in different departments particularly education, sources said.

Sources added that after the PTI was ousted from power at the centre, PTI ministers and lawmakers from Mardan had allegedly started appointing their blued-eyed people and relatives in different departments particularly education.

The PTI lawmakers and ministers were making efforts to recruit their own people, the sources said, adding that this prompted the Mardan mayor to ban appointments in all departments in the district.

Sources added that in the past the PTI lawmakers and ministers allegedly appointed their blue-eyed persons and relatives in different departments including Abdul Wali Khan University and University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Mardan.

The sources added that Mayor Mardan Himayatullah Mayar on April 4 released an executive order number 15 to DEO Male & Female Mardan, DO Social Welfare, SE & WE Mardan, DO Agriculture Mardan, DO Livestock & Dairy Development Mardan, DO On-Farm Water Management Mardan, DO Population Welfare Mardan, XEN, Public Health Engineering Mardan banning the recruitment in all the departments.

It was stated in the executive order that undersigned being Mayor Mardan City Local Government hereby issued the executive order in light of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act (Amendment-2019) under Section-23(A) in the best interest of the general public.

“There shall be complete ban on appointments against the vacant posts in your respective offices except deceased son’s quota, employee’s son quota or Medical Board till further order,” the order said.

Sources added that Himayatullah Mayar had warned the heads of departments that strict action would be taken against them if any appointment was made despite the ban.

Source said the mayor warned the heads of the departments that he would move the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and judiciary if his order was not complied with.

The executive order has created fear among the heads of the departments of Mardan and they weren’t ready to follow orders of the PTI ministers and lawmakers, the sources said. Sources added that the PTI ministers and lawmakers were allegedly pressuring the heads of the education and other departments to appoint their blue-eyed and relatives but they were unwilling to oblige them.

Sources added that the PTI minister and lawmakers had decided that they would request Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to transfer such officers to districts if the district administration did not follow their orders.