PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar here on Wednesday stressed the need for thorough consultation with other provincial services regarding the proposed civil service reforms process.

The seminar was arranged by KP PCS Officers Association that was attended by a large number of provincial officers, lawmakers, police officers and members of federal bureaucracy posted to the province.

PCS Officers Association president Abdul Ghaffar Baig said on the occasion that all groups of bureaucracy must be consulted to make the proposed reforms meaningful.

Provincial officers complain they have been ignored in the process

He said that currently a federal task force was working on civil service reforms; however, provincial services were left out of it. He said that they had raised their concerns on the issue in public. He added that the provincial groups should also have been consulted regarding civil service reforms.

Provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said that all the demands of the PCS officers were justified and government would support them. He said that he would personally talk to chief minister regarding filling up of vacant seats.

The minister said that government would not allow injustice against the PCS officers, who were real assets of the province. He said that dismantling of the magistracy system led to many ills. He said that they needed to join hands to restore magistracy system in the province.

PCSOA coordinator Fahd Ikram Qazi briefed the participants about the provincial bureaucracy issues.

He said that the 1993 apportionment formula, which divided scheduled posts between provincial and federal officers, was unjustified and illegal. He demanded of the government to revisit the formula, saying that it allowed greater number of higher posts to the federal bureaucrats, who were less in number while provincial officers had fewer openings for them at the top.

Mr Qazi said that due to that unjust distribution, about 200 posts of the PAS share were lying vacant in the province. He said that due to the fewer number of seats for the provincial cadre, officers were forced to remain in a grade for longer than their counterparts in federal bureaucracy.

He also called for repatriation of all deputatationists from provincial government departments. He said that provincial officers were wearing black armbands in protest against non-repatriation of deputatationists and other demands for the last 50 days.

He also proposed changing recruitment and placement methods for bureaucracy. He called for setting up a placement board for posting on senior positions, saying currently all transfers and postings were being done arbitrarily and had nothing to do with merit.

Mr Qazi also cautioned against immediate extension of police system to the erstwhile Fata and said that government should instead use Khasadar and Levies for the purpose. He said that government should not replace jirga with dispute resolution council. He called for handing over DRCs to the civil bureaucracy.

Representatives of provincial officers from other provinces and other officials also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019