At the very outset the Management of OGDCL expresses profound disappointment on the scandal, unverified, incorrect, incomplete and misleading information unilaterally disseminated. It was expected to have conducted preliminary verification of the documents improperly relied upon which were provided by Chaudhry Muhammad Akram in furtherance of his vested interests and ulterior motives. Had to ascertain the factual position, to instantly learnt that Chaudhry Muhammad Akram, who has now retired from service, has his own agenda and axe to grind. Chaudhry Muhammad Akram recently while in service has been found guilty of misappropriation and breach of trust in the matter of disbursement of funds meant for the workers of the Company. As a trustee of the fund Chaudhry Muhammad Akram drew amount of Rs 50 million in cash from the trust for payment to the workers and misappropriated a specific portion of the same. The matter was taken up by the Standing Committee of National Assembly on Petroleum & Natural Resources. The Management of OGDCL also initiated formal disciplinary proceedings on the basis of fact finding inquiry. Chaudhry Muhammad Akram as trustee has been held responsible for embezzlement of more than Rs 10 million and the same has been ordered to be recovered from him. Besides, major penalty of two steps reduction to the lower post was imposed upon him. Chaudhry Muhammad Akram tried to influence the officers who were associated with the inquiry proceedings however he was unsuccessful in deriving an outcome to his advantage. In order to protect himself from the proceedings he also tried to incite the workers at various OGDCL field locations and head office. However he failed to misguide the employees of the Company as he was completely exposed in relation to his behaviour and mischievous acts. The fact finding inquiry and details of disciplinary proceedings against Chaudhry Muhammad Akram and his other accomplices have been forwarded to FIA for initiation of criminal proceedings.
It is unfortunate that Chaudhry Muhammad Akram tried to malign the Management and to influence the criminal proceedings pending against him with FIA on the basis of complaint lodged by OGDCL. Factual position vis-à-vis the allegations made by Chaudhry Muhammad Akram and complete truth with respect to the allegations is as under:
IRREGULARITIES IN THE APPOINTMENTS AT ENTRY LEVEL AND MID LEVEL POSITIONS:
Any appointment in the officer cadre cannot be made without advertisement and assessment. All appointments at the entry level are made on the basis of examination and assessment conducted by a third party. OGDCL chose National Testing Services (NTS) for this purpose. The Company was in dire need of engineers and technical professionals at the entry levels as the positions had fallen vacant over years which could not be filled and resultantly the core technical pool of the Company was depleting. Therefore in order to carry on with the operations optimally the positions were filled through competitive process. It is pertinent to mention that as a result of practical discipline and control exercised by the management the strength of the Company has fallen by almost 1000 personnel in the last three years.