PESHAWAR, Oct 9 The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has injected the much-awaited 'fresh blood' into its otherwise incapacitated departments, as 174 officers from the Provincial Management Service (PMS) will assume their duties on Monday after completing their pre-service training.

The graduation ceremony of these new entrants was held at the Institute of Management Sciences here on Saturday, marking the completion of their four-month pre-service training in public sector management.

Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastgeer Akhtar along with senior members of the provincial bureaucracy turned up at the ceremony to give the newly-inducted officers pat on the back.

The provincial government had created the PMS replacing the erstwhile Provincial Civil Service (PCS), in 2007 following changes in the basic governance structure in the wake of devolution plan in 2002.

The government departments in secretariat and districts had not received fresh officers after these changes, leaving almost 300 posts of grade-17 vacant that subsequently led to poor service delivery.

With placement of these officers, the government will be able to address gaps and capacity constraints in different departments, Mr Akhtar told Dawn soon after the graduation ceremony.

“The government departments are in dire need of fresh blood and that is what we are going to inject,” he said.

The Establishment and Administration Department last week notified the posting of these new officers in different government departments, districts and Civil Secretariat Fata.

A merit-based policy was devised and subsequently approved by Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti for posting of these new entrants.

According to the policy, nobody has been posted in division of their domicile except the 12 women officers posted in Peshawar on their choice, explained an official of the establishment department.

The official said that officers who showed good performance during their pre-service training were given field postings, while academic qualification and field of specialisation was also considered as a factor in placement of the newcomers. “If someone has qualification and experience related to financial sector they have been posted in finance, mineral and industry departments,” the official explained.

Meanwhile, speaking at the graduation ceremony, the chief secretary gave a sense to the audience of what the civil service was all about.

During the colonial era, he said, the civil service was called the steel frame of colonial India, adding over past six decades this so-called steel frame had become decidedly rusty.

“The diminishing capacity, over-politicisation and corruption of the bureaucracy and its political masters were seriously undermining Pakistans economic, social and political development,” he observed.

He said that fighting off militancy, intolerance and extremism, restoring peace and improving service delivery were the main challenges the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were facing these days.

Mr Akhtar urged the officers to take up these challenges, adding “I urge you to accept the challenge, and work in whatever position you are assigned to serve the people, out of whose taxes I and you are paid.”

Earlier, the chief secretary distributed distinction shields and certificates among the top three officers for their excellent performance during training.

Mushtaq Hussain grabbed first position, Mohammad Zahiruddin Babar second and Yasir Ali Khan third. Dr Nasir Ali Khan, executive director IM Sciences, also spoke on the occasion.