Deserving civil servants upset by unfair moves - Pomotions and postings
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, Aug 4: Sheer frustration prevails among provincial services cadre due to the practice in vogue of assigning senior administrative jobs either to retired army officers or to their juniors, working on contract basis, through undue promotion.
The aggrieved officials appeared anxious about their future as the practice has now strengthened its roots in the public sector as well as autonomous organizations and institutions.
At the moment, more than half-a-dozen brigadiers have been holding the office of secretary in various ministries or performing as head of an autonomous organization, sources pointed out, adding that there was a great deal of resentment among the aggrieved officials as a large number of them, currently in grade 19-21, were eagerly waiting for their posting while their juniors were preferred.
The orders of such transfer/posting were issued under the Sindh Civil Servants Appointments, Promotions and Transfer Rules-1974. Describing the practice as contrary to the principle of merit and seniority, the affected officials maintain that till 1992, the Provincial Civil Services cadre had never been subjected to such unfair practices.
However, they claim, it was the period of the late Jam Sadiq Ali when Masood Alam Rizvi had been elevated to the post of services secretary and violation of the prescribed rules of postings and promotions started taking place unabated.
They point out that in that period, junior officers had got themselves promoted, and posted above the positions of their seniors on the basis of political affiliation, in many cases within a span of just six months.
Sources pointed out that this practice was contrary to the federal government rules notified under 1/9/80-R 2 on June 2, 1983 which specified that "an official in grade 17 could only be promoted to grade 18 after serving in the cadre for five years."
Likewise, for promotion from grade 18 to 19, the length of service was fixed as 12 years. In the case of grade 20, the length of service was fixed as 17 years and for grade 21, it was 22 years.
The sources observed that another reason for the frustration among the officials was that departmental promotion committees had not been meeting or disposing of cases for years.
While the prescribed rules are not being followed in promotions, it has become a routine practice, in order to bypass senior officials, that appointments are being made on political grounds to assign senior posts to contractual employees.
The newly-appointed officials or junior ones are entitled to an allowance 20 per cent (of the basic salary) higher than that of their seniors, according to the sources.
They pointed out that at a meeting of the inter-provincial coordination committee, held on Sept 19, 1993 at the Prime Minister's Secretariat, the quota was fixed for grade 21 officers.
The committee had allocated 65 per cent jobs to APUG cadre officials and the rest to PCS cadre officials. The provincial quota was further divided as 55 per cent for ex-PCS officials and the rest for Provincial Secretariat Services officials.
Two of the three posts in grade 21 on ex-PCS officials' quota had fallen vacant with the retirement of Mr Shafique Paracha and Mr Manzoor Bhutto. However, they are yet to be filled.
As per the seniority criterion, Bakhshal Khan Gadaro (Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister), Ashiq Hussain Memon (Health Secretary), Aftab Qureshi and Mehmood Ahmad Khan (Forest Secretary), all at present in grade 20, qualify for the posts. Likewise, six posts of grade 20 are available but none of the grade 19 officials is being promoted.
All posts of DCOs, except for one (Karachi) are grade 20 positions but 80 per cent of them have been assigned to grade 19 officials, and in some case junior-most ones.
The sources pointed out that the junior officials had been posted despite the fact that no less than a dozen officials of grade 20 and as many of grade 19/18 were very much available.
Quoting an example of appointments on administrative posts from outside the cadre, the sources referred to two cases where officials had been brought from the Agriculture Development Bank and posted in grade 19 positions at the CM's House.
