April 22, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 04, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 21: The dilly-dallying tactics of the Establishment Division are hampering the efforts of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) to do away with those federal government rules that discriminated against the low-grade CBR employees, it has been learnt.

Efforts are being made for the last more than a year to win same perks and privileges for the CBR employees that are being enjoyed by their counterparts in other departments and ministries.

Sources in the Establishment Division told Dawn that key punch operators (KPOs) and data entry operators (DEOs) of the CBR were working in Basic Pay Scale (BPS)-10, while their counterparts with the same qualification and charter of duties enjoyed BPS-11 to 14 in other ministries.

In the Ministry of Information, Board of Investment and Ministry of Religious Affairs, KPOs and DEOs are working in BPS- 14. Whereas in the Finance Division, Establishment Division and National Assembly, they are serving in BPS-12.

In the Excise and Taxation Department and the Ministry of Interior, KPOs and DEOs enjoy BPS-11.

It was more than a year ago, when the CBR wrote formally to the Establishment Division to seek amendments to the recruitment rules in order to remove the discrepancy, but it rather created an anomaly.

“We want the same grades for our employees that are being enjoyed by people of the same calibre and set of duties in other federal government departments. I wonder why can’t we remove this discrimination,” an official in the CBR told Dawn.

He said the Establishment Division had resorted to bureaucratic red tape, as the CBR employees continued to suffer.

“I am holding a BA degree and perform the same duties, while my counterparts in the Ministry of Information and other departments also possess the same qualification and perform the same duties. Then why shouldn’t I be given the same scale?” asked a KPO serving with the CBR.

Sources said that the issue was still far from being solved.

In reply to the CBR official request, the Establishment Division sought a complete report from the CBR on local recruitment rules of the excise and taxation. It was of the view that the CBR employees had to be dealt with as per these rules.

However, the CBR has again written to the Establishment Division and maintained that the appointment rules of the excise and taxation were still being prepared and that the CBR employees had nothing to do with these rules.

Sources said the issue was likely to take a long time for resolution as the Establishment Division seemed not taking interest in what was being regarded as genuine demand of the CBR low-grade employees.

They said this red tape was against the spirit of the recent announcements by the government in which it had agreed to the promotion in the scales of assistants and upper division and lower division clerks.