Trusted bureaucrat from Farah Gogi’s inner circle lands key post in MoNFS&R
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: The federal government led by ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), which has been criticizing against previous government of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab especially accusing Farah Gogi’s role in chief minister’s office, has appointed Dr. Syed Bilal Haider in Ministry of National Food Security & Research, despite his alleged role in assisting Gogi led team in the province.
Interestingly, the official has been given key role in food ministry despite a report that existing Punjab Chief Minister of the ruling party had refused to post him against any civil post in the punjab province due to several alleged corruption cases and complaints.
Farah Gogi, whose real name is Farhat Shahzadi, was a relatively low-profile figure who rose to notoriety during the tenure of former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. She is widely believed to have wielded extraordinary influence behind the scenes, despite holding no official position in government.
The opposition parties accused the Farah Gogi of receiving kickbacks, commissions and black money on behalf of the chief minister, against illegal transfers and postings being made across the province,” a bureaucrat from Pakistan Administrative Services privy to chief minister office informed.
Bilal Haider from Pakistan Administrative Services was allegedly one of key apparatchik of Farah Gogi’s ‘B-team’ that reportedly used to hand over ill gotten money to Mr. Ahmad Mansoor Nawaz, cashier of Farah Gogi for depositing in her account, it is learnt.
Sources at Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab informed that Ahmad Mansoor Nawaz had admitted in his confessional statement in ACE that he had received cash worth Rs 420 million from former principal secretary to chief minister Tahir Khurshid, former commissioner Punjab Employees Social Security Institution, Dr Syed Bilal Haider, former DG LDA Usman Muazzam, former Lahore deputy commissioner Saleha Saeed, Ahmed Aziz Tarrar, Asif Bilal Lodhi, and others and deposited in personal account of Farah Gogi. He also confessed “these officials used to give him cash against transfer postings of officials, monthly extortion money (for staying on position) and for other activities e.g., awarding govt. contracts to favorite contractors, frontman, and he used to transfer it to Farah Gogi’s personal account,” The dates of payments deposited to Gogi’s account were also matched with the time of postings of these officials at said position during investigation.
Former Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resources, Mr. Ansar Majeed Niazi, lodged a formal complaint with the Establishment Division against Dr. Syed Bilal Haider, accusing him of forgery in an official document. The document in question approved and signed by the minister authorized the hiring of a consultant for Rs. 5 million for the construction of hospitals under PESSI (Punjab Employees Social Security Institution). Dr. Haider allegedly altered the fee to Rs. 15 million without lawful authority.
He is also accused of inflating the construction cost of the PESSI head office from Rs. 8.4 million to Rs. 14.4 million. Furthermore, he reportedly awarded a contract to a preferred contractor by reducing the project scope, cutting the production cost from Rs. 284 million to Rs. 217 million while also eliminating essential facilities. In another instance, he allegedly procured four hospital beds at an inflated price of Rs. 20 million each.
A medical adviser revealed that kickbacks and commissions were taken in all such cases, including the purchase of medicines and equipment worth Rs. 1.90 billion, carried out through a frontman of Farah Gogi.
According to sources Rana Tanvir Hussain, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research has requisitioned to Mr. Ahad Cheema, Federal Minister for Establishment Division and Economic Affair Division for placing his services at the disposal of MoNFS&R as Joint Secretary, BS-20 under section 10 despite the fact he is in grade BS-19 and his promotion for BS-19 has also been deferred due to his alleged bad repute in the bureaucracy and Farah Gogi case.
According to insiders Mr Bilal Haider as Joint Secretary MoNFS&R is allegedly acting as obedient drones for the present government and collecting money from head and officers of MoNFS&R’ departments on key positions in exchange for appointment on lucrative positions and thereafter retaining such positions despite not fulfilling appointment, transfer and promotion criteria. He has laid down a criteria under the right sizing program that those paying extortion money are eligible to holding and retaining positions in the MoNFS&R and departments while others are guests of surplus pool.
The official is also accused of getting kickbacks from offices of DG FSCRD, DG, PBRR, Director AQD, DG DPP, Chairman PARC, Vice president PCCC, Fisheries Development Board, Pakistan Oil Seed Board, Livestock and Dairy Development Board, Pakistan Tobacco Board, National Veterinary Laboratory, PASSCO in exchange for appointments and retaining their positions. Currently, mostly corrupt, junior and non-qualified officials are appointed in these departments in utter disregard of rules. In their places, insiders claim, the JS recommended to surrender honest officers who are not in his good book and refuse to pay for their postings. According to insiders he is also involved in orchestrating dubious intelligence reports against officials who refuse to pay bribes, using his batchmates in various agencies to have them removed and placed in the surplus pool.
Section Officer Rahim Niazi, Zeeshan Mustafa, Ms. Tehmina, Ms. Huma, Dr. Ali Qaim, Dr. Salim Mohsin, Waseem Azhar, and Khurram Jamshaid reportedly refused to pay extortion money. In retaliation, they were subjected to misconduct, issued explanation letters, and entangled in false inquiries initiated by Dr. Syed Bilal Haider.
He is also allegedly using three official vehicles for personal use, with fuel expenses being covered by various departments. Additionally, he has occupied a suite in the PARC hostel without any deduction of house rent from his salary and without paying the official accommodation charges.
Dr. Syed Bilal Haider also recommended to Mr. Shahid Khan—a former bureaucrat appointed by the Prime Minister to lead a fact-finding inquiry into the non-functional status of the Central Plant Quarantine Laboratory in Karachi since 2005—the names of several senior bureaucrats, including Rashid Mehmood Langrial, Hassan Zafar, Ghufran Memon, Serat Asghar, Dr. Muhammad Hashim Populzai, Abid Javid, Muhammad Zia ur Rehman, and Muhammad Ismail Qureshi. These names were referred to inquiry committee in consultation with Tahir Khurshid and Capt. Retd. Muhammad Mehmood that have been aggrieved from these officials, an official in M/oNFS&R revealed on anonymity.
However, a clear abuse of authority is evident in his selective omission of certain names from the list of accused individuals sent to Mr. Shahid Khan. Those excluded include Mr. Omer Hameed (currently a member of the Election Commission of Pakistan), Capt. (Retd.) Muhammad Mehmood, Fazal Abbas Makan, Tahir Khurshid, Shafqat Nagmi, and Ahmad Bakhsh Lehri, despite the fact that all of them served as Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MoNFS&R) from 2005 to date. These individuals were equally responsible for the continued non-functionalization of the Chinese-sponsored laboratory.
Notably, Tahir Khurshid was not only Dr. Haider’s senior and close associate but also a co-accused in the Farah Gogi corruption cases.
It is now being reported that Dr. Syed Bilal Haider is collecting extortion money on behalf of two favored federal ministers, with the illicit funds allegedly being transferred to Dubai through Malik Riaz, the real estate tycoon.
Related complaints against the JS are also being circulated in social media. However the ministry and relevant officials are yet to take notice of the same.
