'All Wattoo's men' to get jobs in ministries

ISLAMABAD Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Federal Minister for Industries & Production, has forwarded a list of over 200 candidates for their permanent appointments in various ministries and divisions on recommendations of his kith and kin, TheNation has reliably learnt.
According to a list of candidates available with TheNation, the Ministers close relatives including Rubina Shaheen Wattoo, Mian Tahir Nasim Watto, Shahid Ahmad Wattoo, Mian Aslam Wattoo recommended the applications for recruitment in different ministries and attached departments. Those who recommended include the Ministers son, daughter and other notables from his hometown Okara.
The sources further told TheNation that the Minister had already instructed to fill at least 95 vacancies in the ministry and its attached departments only through recommended list of candidates.
Besides these political recommendations in his own ministry and attached departments, the Federal Minister also recommended a list of total 113 candidates in other divisions and government departments as well, the document available added.
The available documents further revealed the inclusion of six nominated candidates for National Highway Authority (NHA), seven in Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), 21 in Anti-Narcotics division, 48 in Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) and 31 in Railways. It is pertinent to note that the USC reportedly has also made political recruitments of over 4,000 jobs in the Corporation on the direction of federal minister for Industries & Production.
According to the documents, the ministers kith and kin did not even spare the ailing Pakistan Steel Mills, for the political appointments of recommended candidates and forwarded a list of 30 candidates for their appointments in this financial starving corporation currently hit by scandals. The forwarded list includes the appointments of six assistants, two stenographers and steno-typist each and a Naib Qasid in the Ministry of Industries & Production while one seat each of Assistant, steno-typist and Naib Qasid in Department of Explosive, a list the secretary prepared by the ministers office.
The list has a total recommendation of 28 posts in the authority and they would be posted against the vacant post of Manager Associates, Officer Coordinate, Manager Admin Accounts, Accountant Officer, Marketing Executive, Secretary, cashier and other junior posts in the SMEDA, the list added. The available documents clearly show that the recommendations of 23 appointments in National Fertilizer Corporation (NFC), another attached department of the ministry mainly deals in urea fertiliser distribution for the appointments of posts.
However, interestingly, some of these appointments were made at various stations of the corporation but the candidates belong to the constituency of the Minister. When this scribe tried to contact Federal Minister Mian Manzoor Ahmed Watoo for his comments he was not available on his cell phone after repeated tries. Later, his Personal Staff Officer (PSO) Aslam contacted this scribe and denied the existence of any list of political appointments.
Minister has not given any list of candidates to the Ministry and its attached departments, he said adding that if the people came from his constituency, they were recommended, as it was a routine practice of almost all ministers.