ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today revealed that many grade 20 public officers were not promoted because of doubts on their integrity.

"In grade 20 - 21 promotions, you should be able to see their integrity, and look at their past and their career," he said, addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday, and added that many of those being considered for promotions were dropped because their integrity was questionable.

The premier ruled out the possibility of provincialism and favouritism during promotions of grade 20 government officials.

"We are not making this matter controversial, we don't want to bring provincialism into it," he said, adding that many officials from various provinces were considered and dropped.

He denied being asked by the Federal Public Service Commission about who should be promoted, saying he did not know the chairman of the commission, who had been appointed during the previous government's term.

The prime minister stated that recruitment in Punjab and Balochistan has been conducted on the basis of merit.

"We have adopted a principled approach to this matter and are sticking to it because we want to be fair to the Pakistani people. It is unfair to recruit 'third class' people on the basis of 'sifarish', while someone who is deserving is deprived," he said.

"We don't make distinctions on the basis of ethnicity," he said.

The prime minister's remarks were a response to Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah's concerns that public service promotions were not being done on the basis of merit.

He asked Shah to tell the assembly where unfairness was being done, and said that if there were any discrepancies in the promotion process, they would be fixed.

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