Appointment of CEO PBIT: eligibility criteria relaxed

The Punjab government has reportedly tailored eligibility criteria to select the son of a bureaucrat as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Punjab Board of Investment and Trade (PBIT), well informed sources told Business Recorder
A Provincial Secretary heading a key department related to infrastructure development in Punjab has purportedly got his son selected for the post of CEO PBIT before the last date for receipt of applications for the position is over. The qualification and eligibility criteria for the position has been revised (relaxed) to make him qualify for the position.
The sources said, the position was advertised by the Punjab Government in December 2016. The eligibility criteria was "a minimum of Master's degree in Business Administration, Public Policy/Engineering Degree or any other Degree qualification recognised by HEC with minimum of 16 years of education. Minimum 16 years of experience in private and/or public sector at international, national or sub-national level with minimum 5 years of experience in a leadership role."
In addition "thorough understanding of doing business environment, dealings with public and private sectors, ability to harness and promote opportunities offered by Punjab to foreign businesses and functioning of line department within the government is a must." As the scion of the powerful bureaucrat did not meet this criteria, the entire process of selection was scrapped and the post was re-advertised on March 10, 2017 with modified criteria, tailor made to fit the bureaucrat's son.
"As the young man did not possess the experience required for the senior most position of the CEO of the Public Sector enterprise, the threshold has been lowered from 16 years to 7 years," the sources added.
An insider said that to customise the eligibility criteria to fit the pre-selected candidate the revised advertisement added that "preference will be given to those candidates who have prior experience in investment Banking, Direct Investments, Corporate Governance and Equity Financing."
The CEO PBIT heads a public sector investment and trade promotion body and operate within the ambit of the government of Punjab. Being the head of a government body, the CEO is indeed required to have a skill set which was mentioned in the original advertisement ie understanding of the public sector decision making and ability to provide the facilitation services to the investors, most of which are related to the government organisations. The new criteria, tailored to fit a pre-selected individual, is off the mark as the experience of investment banking is only as much required for the CEO of an Investment Promotion Agency as a doctor is required to know the engineering process of the X-Ray machine.
In a similar process conducted earlier to hire CEO PBIT, the wife of another influential provincial secretary in Punjab, belonging to a well placed bureaucratic family known for loyalty to the ruling family got the position. The lucrative position with a package of more than Rs1 million per month, was easier to get but difficult to maintain as she could not perform and had to leave the position in less than a year.
PBIT is an important agency in the Government of Punjab and has been failing to show any significant performance as the top positions in the organisations are treated as sinecures for obliging the family members of powerful bureaucrats.