LAHORE: Whether the new prime minister will chair the all important meetings of the high-powered selection board scheduled to be held this month?

The question is haunting many bureaucrats in the country as the meeting will lead to promotion of their colleagues to BS-22, and open as a result the blocked doors of promotion to the mid-service and junior officials right in BS-17 to 20.

According to official sources, the last meeting of the board was presided over by Mr Nawaz Sharif around six months ago. Further promotions of federal government officials of all groups up to BS-21 now depend on the prime minister’s meeting.

Following this meeting, the federal selection board would consider promotions of officials up to BS-21 in its meeting scheduled in September. “Everything depends on the meeting by the prime minister,” a senior official said.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Selection Boards I and II are meeting under the provincial chief secretary and the additional chief secretary on Wednesday (today) to clear the promotion cases (BS- 18 to 21) of scores of officials of different departments like excise, specialized healthcare and agriculture departments.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2017