ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Thursday set up a subcommittee to examine the Civil Service Act and its rules, the Wafaqi Mohtasib order and the Civil Services Tribunal Act and propose amendments to streamline promotions to senior bureaucratic posts.

The subcommittee includes PPP Senator Farooq H Naek and PML-N Senator Nehal Hashmi.

The decision was taken at the committee meeting to discuss increasing litigation against promotions by Central Selection Board (CSB) to posts in grade 21 and 22, and the consequent resentment and uncertainty among civil servants.

Members of the committee felt that the already burdened courts were being weighed down further by cases regarding the promotions of civil servants who had challenged the board’s decisions.

Senator Naek said that the appointment of offices in grades 20 and 21 to grade 22 posts such as federal secretary, and the non-implementation of Supreme Court orders that deemed the award of 15 marks at the CSB’s discretion to be illegal, were responsible for the current disarray.

“This discretionary power of the Central Selection Board should be abolished completely for a fair and equitable playing field for all officers of the civil service,” he said.

In response to a question on whether arbitrary reports by intelligence agencies were also considered while deciding on promotions, Establishment Secretary Mian Asad Hayauddin said that no report against which an officer has an opportunity to defend himself is taken into consideration.

Committee members also observed that officers from the District Management Group received a disproportionate share of promotions, as compared to officers from other occupational groups.

PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said it had also been observed that officers from particular occupational groups were ignored, while officers from outside the cadre were appointed to higher posts in their cadre.

He asked the secretary whether the post of Military Lands and Cantonments director general was a cadre post of the civilian structure, and whether this post had been held by officers from outside the cadre for a long time, and why.

Secretary Hayauddin said he would give briefing on the matter in camera at a later stage, to which Senator Babar said transparency and accountability could be ensured in the presence of the media.

In addition to demanding a list of court cases related to officers’ promotions, the committee also proposed that the Ombudsman or the Federal Services Tribunal be directed to address such cases.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017