KARACHI, July 24:
Dr Kaiser Bengali, whose has recently been removed as adviser to the Sindh chief minister on Planning and Development, when the provincial chief executive had to accommodate a nominee of a new coalition partner, is being kept away from the government as the (Punjabi) bureaucracy feels uneasy under his command, sources say.
Dr Bengali has now been made deputy chairman of the newly-constituted Planning and Development Board with the functions and powers similar to those of an adviser.
The sources said that Dr Bengali, known economist and who headed institutions like Social Policy and Development Centre, Karachi, and Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad, seemed no more willing to take up his new job. "The main reason is that he is disturbed by the attitude of the bureaucracy, which is behind an inordinate delay in the issuance of the notification of his appointment as the new PDB chief despite approval of the relevant summary by the chief minister," the sources observed.
It is also learnt that Dr Bengali had earlier submitted his resignation to the chief minister, probably in April, reportedly in disgust over the bureaucracy's attempts to sabotage his efforts towards improving the provincial economy and other rehabilitation work. The chief minister, however, did not accept the resignation.
If he quit the government, he will be the third professional economist, after the State Bank governor and the chief economist in the Planning Commission, to part ways with the government (in clash with Punjabi Establishment of Islamabad).
The need to change in the designations of Dr Bengali and Zubair Motiwala from the office adviser was felt, when the chief minister had to induct some PML-Q and PML-F party nominees as advisers and ministers in the Sindh government.
Since the constitution does not allow a chief minister to keep more than five advisers at a time, he offered new jobs to Dr Kaiser Bengali and Zubair Motiwala without curtailing their powers or changing their functions.
Accordingly, both the advisers were de-notified but the notification regarding their re-designation which were supposed to be notified simultaneously had not been issued for several days.
Later, the notification appointing Mr Motiwala as chairman of the Board of Investment was issued. However, a similar notification for Dr Bengali's appointment as the deputy chairman of the Planning & Development Board is yet to be issued.
It is learnt that certain elements in the bureaucracy do not want Dr Bengali to remain a provincial authority as the people at the helm of affairs are not happy with his strategy to stamp out corruption from the department by dropping nearly 400 schemes from the ADP 2011-12.
Besides, Dr Bengali was recently quoted as saying that Sindh's Annual Development Plan was determined by a 'contractor lobby' and the remarks were not welcomed by certain elements in the bureaucracy, according to sources.
He had also highlighted the fact that Sindh was under yoke of economic colonialism (of Punjabis), pointing out that people of other provinces working to earn money in Sindh would transfer a major portion of their income to their home provinces.
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Daily 'Dawn.com'