ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: About 46 civil servants including senior bureaucrats have been working as officers on special duty (OSD), getting bulky salaries and all official perks and privileges but doing nothing in return, it is learnt.
These employees were made OSD due to various reasons. Some have been facing disciplinary action, corruption and embezzlement charges while others are lacking in performance. Some are the victims of likes and dislikes, favouritism and political changes, sources told Dawn.
They have been enjoying this status for the last more than a year. Some are as recent as months.
According to statistics received from the establishment division, there is one grade 22, four grade 21, 16 grade 20, 14 grade 19, 10 BPS-18 and one BPS-17 bureaucrats who have been functioning as OSD.
They include Dr Sheikh Aleem Mahmud, BPS-22; Saad Sharif, Syed Irshad Hussain, Sajjad Ahmad Javed Bhatti and Talib Hussain Sial in BPS-21; Liaquat Ali Khan, Maqbool Ahmad, Pervez Akhtar, SMR Rizvi, Mohammad Tahir Arif, Farooq Ahmad Khan, Mohammad Arshad Saeed, Col Mohammad Javed Noor, Rafi Ahmad Pervez Bhatti, Abdul Karim Ansari, Air Cdre Naunehal Shah, Khalid Amin Qureshi, S. Rukan Abdullah Gardezi, Ziauddin, Sikandar Hayat Makan and Zaeem Ahmad Chaudhary in grade 20; Haseeb Athar, Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema, Sohail Ahmad Durrani, Pervez Ahmad, Capt Mohammad Tariq Hayat, Shahbaz Akhtar Joseph, Sohail Ahmad Mian, Raja Safa Mohammad Satti, Mohammad Ibrahim Bhatti, Sumaira Samad, Zafar Iqbal, Askari Mehdi Abdi and Sheikh Masood Ellahi in grade 19; Sohail Habib Tajik, Capt Mohammad Mahmood, Mohammad Tahir Noor, Musharraf Rasool, Saeed Ramazan, Ahmad Jan Malik, Dr Syed Asim Hussain, Syed Intikhab Alam, Shahzad Nawaz Cheema and Imran Sikandar in BPS-18.
There is one Saad Sikandar Khan in grade 17 working as OSD.
The officers are sitting at their homes but getting regular salaries and all facilities equal to employees on duty.
According to some estimates, the basic salaries of civil servants from BPS-17 to BPS-22 are as follows: BPS-17 from Rs7,140 to Rs17,840; BPS-18 from Rs9,355 to Rs22,855; BPS-19 from Rs14,260 to Rs28,360; BPS-20 between Rs16,915 and Rs32,245; BPS- 21 between Rs18,750 and Rs35,970; and BPS-22 from Rs20,560 to Rs40,215.
These are only the basic pays. Other emoluments like government accommodation, hiring facilities, medical bills, telephone bills, entertainment and study amounts, and chauffeur driven cars are even the double of basic salaries. This shows that these 46 officials have been consuming millions of rupees from government exchequer but not contributing anything to the government in return.
An officer of the establishment division when asked about these OSD workers, said these were being posted in different departments where they fit.
He said all of them were not facing punishment or any disciplinary action. Most of them are those who refuse to work in a specific department or any place not of their choice and surrender charge to the establishment division, he added.
