0
KARACHI, Aug 17: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked the Sindh government to furnish the service profiles of all officials of grade 17 and above by circulating a questionnaire to be filled and returned by August 30, it has reliably been learnt.
The data thus collected would be computerised and used to achieve the objectives of good governance, including recommending suitable officials for higher training and identifying bureaucrats living beyond their means.
A Services Reforms’ Commission, headed by ex-governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Ishrat Hussain, is already working for restructuring of governance at the federal, provincial and district levels and the civil services.
According to sources, along with the NAB questionnaire the officials are also supposed to comply with the services rules, which require them to submit their yearly bank balance and list of assets (movable and immovable) in their name and in the names of their immediate family members.
The NAB has taken notice of the fact that government officers were not filing their bank statements or their property documents.
Insiders told Dawn that recently, it was brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities that there was a feeling of discontent among officials of the civil services group over the induction of officials from groups such as banking, agriculture and other professional cadres over their heads.
As a result, not only does their seniority suffer but the efficiency of service is also affected resulting in poor governance.
They also said that in some cases promotions were given to officials for rendering services to their benefactor rather than discharging their duty in accordance with the rules.
This also affects the professional capability of the officials in the services cadre as they lagged behind in grades and apprehend retirement before reaching the grade they expected at the time of their induction of service.
Failure to respond to the questionnaire and declaration of assets in time could invite due action and investigation.
The questions asked by the NAB include queries about educational qualification, professional courses, grade, parent department, place and date of present posting, date of joining government service, permanent address, CNIC number, marital status, number of children with ages and names of educational institutions with fee, record of service since joining government service during the last 10 years, places of postings, dates of postings, record of promotions, date of promotions, any acceleratory/out-of-turn promotions whether working in own department or outside department, record of foreign visits on official duty and private visits and countries visited with or without family.
