ISLAMABAD: A committee has been formed to look into the long-pending cases of the promotions of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) engineers.

CDA’s graduate engineers have for months said their mature promotion cases are not being processed. They have alleged that various delaying tactics are being used as well.

According to sources, the committee was formed by CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed on the request of the engineers.

The committee will hold its first meeting on Tuesday and will review the reasons for delay in the finalisation of the promotion cases and will check the necessary documents.

After checking the pre-requisites, the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) will be called for deciding the promotion cases.

Committee formed to look into pending promotion cases of civic agency’s engineers

CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali said the three-member committee is headed by Human Resource Directorate Director General Riaz Randhawa and includes a director works and the deputy director law.

The spokesperson said the promotion cases have been pending for several years and that a serious effort to resolve the cases is being made for the first time.

“The management wants that service matters be resolved on merit as per rules rather than inviting prolonged litigation,” he said.

The Engineering Wing of the CDA is the backbone of the civic agency and has been facing unrest for a year or so.

The Engineering Wing is currently being supervised by a grade 19 contractual officer of the National Highway Authority, Dr Hafiz Ahmed Bakhsh.

The wing has at least four grade 20 officers who were promoted by the interior ministry a few months ago. The member engineering was appointed by the previous government.

However, the CDA spokesperson said the member engineering fulfils the criteria and was appointed by the federal government after adopting due process.

Sources said there are 16 engineers whose promotions from grade 18 to 19 are pending and several grade 17 officers whose promotions to the next pay scale are also pending.

Sources said there are 22 directors and 20 deputy directors who have been working on current charge for around 10 years and waiting for promotions for many years.

CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed told Dawn there will be no delays in due promotion cases.

“I have directed concerned officers to decide the cases on merit after completing all legal formalities,” he said.

Engineering and planning are two core functions of the CDA after the formation of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, to which all civic and municipal functions were devolved.

CDA is now tasked with conducting planning and developing work.

Both these wings are facing a shortage of professionals as no new engineers or town planners have been recruited by CDA in the last decade.

Sources said the Planning Wing is also affected by ad-hoc appointments.

Currently all key directories including urban planning, regional planning, master planning, housing societies and building control section do not have regular heads and are being run by officials with additional charge.

Many grade 17 and above posts have been vacant in this wing for long and only five town planners are working against 33 sanctioned posts.

Last year, Establishment Division allowed CDA to appoint 74 professionals in the engineering and planning wings but the recruitments were not made in the stipulated six months after which the permission expired.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2019