KARACHI: The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis has re-assigned the powers of Chairman Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to Ms Shazia Rizvi, who has been posted on deputation.
According to details, after the sudden transfer of Chairman EOBI Shakeel Ahmed Mangijo, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis Secretary Ishrat Ali issued a notification giving Shazia Rizvi, a female officer on deputation as Director-General (Human Resources & General Administration), the authority to handle affairs at the institution.
It is to be noted that Shazia Rizvi is a Grade 20 officer of the Secretariat Group and has been posted as DG (HR&GA) in EOBI on deputation since March 2020. She also served as Acting Chairman for several months after the retirement of Azhar Hameed in February 2021.
EOBI is a major welfare agency and has been running on ad hoc basis for a long time. Sources said the federal government seems to lack experienced officers to head the institution.
Sources said that Shazia Rizvi’s performance as the head of administrative departments like EOBI DG (HR&GA) has been extremely unsatisfactory as she lack experience in human resource development.
Sources revealed that Shazia Rizvi relies on junior officers for day-to-day management and better utilization of EOBI’s affairs, holding of meetings, important decisions, transfers and appointments.
This has led to squabbling and resentment among senior EOBI officers, who are not only split into groups but have also filed cases in the high courts against each other’s recruitments and promotions.
The recently transferred chairman, in his short tenure, took effective measures to curb mismanagement and abuse of power by reforming the EOBI.
He also evicted Tahir Siddiqui, a close aided of Shazia Rizvi, from the transferred him to regional office in Manga Mandi, Lahore, while Waqas Chaudhry was issued a final warning for his involvement in illegal activities. Both are now running pillar to post for new appointments after the chairman’s departure.
Sources added that Shazia Rizvi, despite holding these two very important, comes to the office only for a few hours instead of performing her duties responsibly.
The management under Shazia Rizvi has also failed miserably in enforcing the working hours of 8 AM to 3 PM by the new prime minister to improve the performance of government agencies. However, the administration is completely disinterested in resolving the matters of pensioners.
