Govt appoints Colonel (retd) Asif Zaman as PSB director general

• The new director-general has been appointed on a contract basis for three years.
• Col Zaman says “merit” and “harmony” will be the keywords of his stay in the office.
• The post of DG fell vacant after Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera retired more than two years back.

The federal government has appointed Colonel (retd) Mohammad Asif Zaman as the new director-general of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on a contract basis for three years.

A notification released by the Establishment Division on Tuesday confirmed the appointment. “The competent authority is pleased to appoint Col (r) Mohammad Asif Zaman as the director-general Pakistan Sports Board, under Inter-Provincial Division, on contract basis, for a period of three (03) years as per terms and conditions laid down in Director General, Pakistan Sports Board, Appointment Rules, 2020, w.e.f. the date of joining and until further orders,” it said.

While talking to the correspondent, Col Zaman said that “merit” and “harmony” will be the keywords of his stay in the office. “I will take the government and minister’s decisions forward and will try to implement these policies to the best of my abilities,” he said.

The former junior international squash player said he wanted to make life easier for athletes. “We are all there for the athletes and to see them performing to the best of their abilities should be our goal. My efforts will be to help them give their best to earn laurels for the country.”

The post of the DG fell vacant at the retirement of Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera more than two years back. Since then the IPC Ministry was running the affairs on an ad hoc basis. All the joint secretaries (during their respective stay in the ministry) took the ad hoc charge for three months each.

The notification issued by the Establishment Division has given a passing remark of the pending case in the Islamabad High Court in which Mansoor Ahmad (Deputy Director-General Administration PSB) has pleaded that the IPC Ministry should have considered him for the post.

“The said appointment is subject to the final outcome of W.P. No.3778/2020 Islamabad High Court,” the notification said.

The new PSB DG’s appointment and legality depend on the outcome of the court verdict.

Originally published in The News