Govt Appoints Major General (Retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman as PTA Member Admin

The federal government has appointed Major General (Retd) Hafeez Ur Rehman as a Member (Administration) of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), with expectations that he will also be appointed as the chairman of the Authority, according to reliable sources.

Sources reveal that the appointment of Rehman as a Member (Administration) received approval from the Federal Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The approval was sought through a summary from the Federal Cabinet based on the recommendation of the Selection Committee led by the Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif.

Initially, Dr. Muhammad Amir Malik was the top candidate among the three recommended candidates for the position. However, he withdrew his application, expressing disinterest in the post.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had put a stay on the appointment of Member (Administration) and instructed the government to halt any recruitment process related to the advertised position until the next hearing.

However, on Wednesday, the IHC lifted the stay, and subsequently, the federal cabinet approved Rehman as Member (Administration). It is important to note that the petition may still proceed as scheduled.

Last month, the federal government initiated the process of appointing a new Member, specifically a Member (Administration), which would increase the total number of Members to four. The existing Members include those responsible for Technical, Finance, Compliance & Enforcement roles, with the tradition being that the Member Technical assumes the role of the Chairman. However, the government has decided to expand the number of Members to four.

On another note, despite several months passing since the advertisement for the position of Member (Technical), the Cabinet Division has not yet commenced the scrutiny of candidates. Officials from the cabinet division state that the scrutiny process for the candidates of Member (Technical) will begin soon, followed by the shortlisting process. However, no specific timeline has been provided regarding the completion of the appointment process for Member (Technical).