Devolution may eat away Quaid Papers

ISLAMABAD, April 16: The Quaid-i-Azam Papers (QAP) Wing is going to be another victim of devolution because of bureaucratic indecisiveness and wrong interpretation that may lead to its closure. The QAP Wing was established as a project in 1990 as a part of centenary celebrations to publish documents related to the father of the nation and the freedom movement. The Wing was a token of tribute to Mohammad Ali Jinnah from the Pakistani Nation. Devolution and expiry of contracts, particularly of the wing's chief editor and a senior editor were the two major reasons attributed to its likely closure. The names of two officials are among the 28 employees whose contracts will soon expire and will not be renewed after the Supreme Court orders that services of employees hired after superannuation be dispensed with. The Establishment Division has sent the list to the prime minister for approval. A senior official of the ministry of culture said sending the names to the prime minister was a wrong move. "First, the post of the Chief Editor was a specialised job and second the seat has been created in suspension of normal rules of hiring. And thirdly it is not a cadre post," the official with the Ministry of Culture said explaining how the office of the Chief Editor was not a regular post of a group. With regard to devolution, the official said the QAP Wing being a special project could not be devolved. "The 18th Amendment is not applicable to any kind of project across the board which means the department cannot be shut down," said the senior official. The wing has so far published 18 volumes of the Quaid-i-Azam Papers. The recent volume was launched on March 23 to commemorate the Pakistan Day. Another eight to ten volumes were likely to come out in a few years. According to the sources in ministry of culture, the Wing was already functioning without its nine editors. The posts could not be filled because of the Establishment Division as it got into the habit of delaying the recruitments on different pretexts. However, the recruitment process was completed but it could not be formalised due to misplaced interpretation of ministry's devolution. "The selected candidates have passed through written test and interview but appointment letters could not be sent to them," he said. Some senior members of the civil society who seemed upset with the possible closure and believed that works by the man of Zawar's caliber, who dedicated his life to publish facts and truth about the Quaid-i-Azam and the freedom movement, would go in vein. "It is best that a suitable person is hired as Chief Editor so that the office continues to publish historical facts for posterity," said a retired senior government official.