ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Mohammad Zubair, a professor of statistics in H-8 College, was shocked to know that his promotion case has been turned down.

He had been waiting for the promotion for the past 13 years, but the Departmental Selection Board (DSB) had denied it without even discussing it.

He was told that another teacher, Kazim Raza, who had immigrated to Canada eight years ago and had never returned, was his senior according to the seniority list.

Since Mr Raza, who was senior, had not been promoted, Mr Zubair could also not be promoted according to the rules.

It is pertinent to mention that a DSB meeting was held on March 15, 2013 in which the same situation arose, but Dr Rashid Azim, who was also junior to Mr Kazim Raza, was promoted nevertheless.

An officer of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), requesting anonymity, said Mohammad Zubair should have been promoted to the vacant post but his promotion had been denied even though he was the senior most.

“Bureaucracy has its own principles and rules. At one time, a certain principle is followed while at another, the rule changes. In the past, many teachers were promoted even though they were on deputation. This approach sends a negative message to the teaching community serving in government colleges in Islamabad,” he said.

The official said that the recent DSB meeting, which was held on Tuesday, had already been delayed four times since May 2013 and teachers had been anxiously waiting for their promotion. “Authorities dealing with the promotion cases are not serious about it and do not consider the overall effect of their indifference on teachers,” he said.

A teacher, requesting anonymity, said as a result of the DSB’s attitude, many college teachers had retired after a single promotion in their entire government service.

“Unfortunately, this slack attitude will further demoralise college teachers who were denied their right to promotion,” he said.

“Around 20 promotion cases were discussed in the meeting out of which five were of the federal government’s college teachers. Four female teachers have been promoted to the next grade but Mohammad Zubair, who was the only male teacher among the five, failed to get promotion in BPS 19 because his senior was abroad,” he said.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), Shaigan Shareef Malik, told Dawn that he had instructed for the termination of Kazim Raza’s service and would try his best to promote Mr Zubair who had been deprived of his right.