PESHAWAR – The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration has begun a recruitment audit reaching back 13 years, the period during which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ruled the province. Officials are checking how government departments and projects hired their staff over that time..
Auditors have asked for details on 25 separate points. They want educational certificates, domicile papers and dual citizenship records, among other documents. Meanwhile, they are examining three groups separately: staff hired through tests, officers and contract employees. As a result, each group faces its own round of checks. The sources did not list all 25 points, but they named education, domicile and dual citizenship as central.
Separate committees for each department
Responsible sources say officials have formed separate audit committees. Metropolitan, local government, education and health departments each have one, and other departments have their own as well. Every committee collects records from its department. It then reviews the legal status of each hire and other details.
How the Peshawar recruitment audit unfolds
The first phase focused on Class IV employees. In that round, officials asked every relevant department for details of those hires. Now the audit widens its net to officers, other employees and contract staff.
The committees are still obtaining records from the departments. Officials have not said when the audit will finish. Meanwhile, auditors will verify educational qualifications, domiciles and other required documents. They will also examine other aspects of each appointment. In short, nobody on the payroll is exempt from the paperwork test. That matters because every appointment draws a public salary.
The scope is wide. Thirteen years of appointments means a mountain of files. Each one now faces the same tests. Is the certificate genuine? Does the domicile hold up? Did the appointment follow the law?
The sources have named no individual employees. Therefore, the Peshawar recruitment audit remains a question, not a verdict. Its answers will depend on what the files show.
