ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The top civil bureaucracy is seeking gallantry awards given to their military counterparts every year.

Civil servants, like military officers, used to get state awards under the Decoration Act of 1965. The practice was discontinued for the civil bureaucracy under the 1973 Civil Service Act.

Informed sources told Dawn that the secretaries' committee, comprising some of the senior-most federal secretaries, has held three meetings specifically on the subject and reached the conclusion that civil servants should also be considered by the government for gallantry awards every year.

The committee had entrusted the secretary local government and rural development in July this year to prepare a working paper and a summary on the subject for approval by forums represented by them and headed by the prime minister.

The bureaucracy has taken the position that officers in grade 19-22 should be eligible for the highest "Hilal/Sitara awards" which are given to Lieutenant Generals because they spend a longer or equivalent period of their career in civil service and contribute positively to the nation.

Similarly, they have proposed the second highest award of "Tamgha" for officers in grades 17-19; the third award "Sanad-i-Khidmat (first class) with Rs5,000 prize", for civil servants in pay scale 11-16. The lowest award of "Sanad-i-Khidmat (second class) with Rs2,000 prize for employees of grade 1-10.

According to a working paper prepared by the secretary local government and circulated to all the ministries and divisions, at least five federal secretaries should be given the highest award of "Hilal or Sitara" every year and their selection should be made on the recommendation of the head of the ministries. The secretaries should have the powers to recommend nominations for the remaining three awards -- Tamgha, Sanad-i-Khidmat Class-1 and Sanad-i-Khidmat Class-II.

Any officer who did not have a criminal case or inquiry pending against him at the time of nomination would be eligible for the award. All the secretaries have also been asked to forward their comments along with nominations before Feb 15 so that a case could be presented to the prime minister for consideration.

The secretaries’ committee has recently been quite active apparently to save bureaucracy from harassment by the National Accountability Bureau and has become a pressure group. Its first "achievement" came in the shape of a directive from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for amendments to the NAB Ordinance to provide necessary protection.

But before the proposed amendments become law, the government announced allotment of residential plots each measuring 500 square yards in the capital's D-12 Sector, and some additional perks for all Grade-22 officers in the federal bureaucracy. The plots and other facilities would be provided even to those who had already been given residential plots.

Some of the other special benefits being offered to the top bureaucrats also include special pay at the rate of 20 per cent; post-retirement lifetime facility of driver/orderly; and one residential plot in addition to the one allotted through the federal government employees housing scheme.

Almost 42 BS-22 officers, serving as federal secretaries, including those who were re-employed, were allotted plots in the D-12 Sector. Later, the package was allowed also to a significant number of other serving officers in BS-22, belonging to the Secretariat Group, Foreign Service, Accounts Group and others who were not heading any ministry.