GUJRAT: A three-member inquiry committee probing allegations of misconduct against Gujrat Executive District Officer (EDO) health has found him guilty of the charges and recommended his removal from the office.

EDO Dr IjazHaider was charged with misconduct in appointments and regularisation of the department workers and humiliating the subordinate staff by using abusive language.

The inquiry committee observed that the posting of Dr Haider in Gujrat despite cases against him in the court of the district and sessions judge/special judge anti-corruption, Faisalabad division, regarding irregularitiesand misuse of authority in his previous postings was also contrary to the government policy for administrative postings.

Gujrat DCO Liaqat Ali Chatha, who had constituted the inquiry committee with Additional District Collector Irfan Ali Kathia as its convener and two senior medical officers, Dr Tahir Abbas Gondal and Dr Azhar Chaudhry, as its members, would now formally write a letter to the provincial health department secretary to surrender the services of Dr Ijaz Haider in the light of the findings of the committee.

The association of the health workers had lodged a protest and sit-in against the E DO on May 11 at the Kutchery Chowk. The inquiry committee was constituted on May 12 with the deadline to completethe task within 48 hours, however, it took almost two weel(s due to procedural constraints as first a member, Dr Humayun Barlas, had quit the committee within a week after which Dr Azhar Chaudhry was nominated whereas the EDO also delayed the production of the required official record before the committee.

In its findings, the committee has unanimously declared the health EDO as responsible for deliberately delaying the regularisationofthecontractstaffbesides committing irregularities in new appointments and misbehaving with the subordinate staff, particularly women.

In its detailed report, a copy of which is available with Dawn, the committee said the EDO could not satisfy the committee in his writ-ten response to the allegations and his non-cooperation in provision of relevant record of appointments of vaccinators and contract regularisation spoke volumes of his actions.

The committee said that after examining the available record with regard to the EDO`s previous administrative postings, it was observed that almost the same allegations were leveled against him in inquiries during his previous postings as the DCOs of Chiniot, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh had also written letters to the senior officials concerned and the health secretary against the performance, his way of working and behaviour.

Ironically, the three previous EDOs of health in Gujrat had faced the inquiries into the cor-ruption allegations and two of them, Dr Nusrat Riaz and Dr Sultan, had been removed from the posts for being allegedly involved in corruption and irregularities and now another EDO had been found guilty of charges in the fresh inquiry.

DCO Liaqat Ali told Dawn that he had received the inquiry report and he would formally write to the provincialsecretary health to surrender the services of Dr Ijaz Haider.

However, sources said the EDO had offered the district management to manage his transfer from Gujrat in a couple of days if the DCO did not write any letter against him.

When contacted for his version, Dr Ijaz Haider did not reply to the repeated calls and text messages by this reporter.