MULTAN: The All Pakistan Audit and Accounts Officers Association (APAAOA) has warned that they will launch a countrywide protest after Eid if their longstanding demand of segregation of the officers of Pakistan Audit and Accounts Services (PAAS) between audit and accounts is not accepted by the government.

APAAOA Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Iftikhar, while talking to Dawn, said a meeting of general executive committee is going to be held on Thursday (today) in Islamabad in which a strategy will be devised to lodge the countrywide protest after the government’s failure to fulfil the demands of the association.

He said framework of rules and procedure for PAAS was issued by the establishment division in 1974 which were amended on March 3, 1976 but the department of auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) had failed to update the cadre strength from time to time besides ensuring the 50 per cent quota of induction of departmental cadre on annual basis.

He said the AGP office had never given due share of induction to departmental officers in accordance with the framework which trickled down negatively against the departmental cadre employees including assistant audit officer (AAO)/senor auditor (SA) due to non-availability of vacancies of audit officers (AOs) for promotion.

“The last induction was done in 2011 which also was not according to framework but since then the induction of audit officer was not made because of which no AAO and SO could be promoted and majority of them are ‘rusting’ in the same post and scale for 15-20 years. The most painful situation is that 320 SA of accountant general, provincial accountant generals (except Sindh) and director general accounts (works) Lahore offices who got professional qualification of public finance by passing the examination of Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accounts have been waiting for their promotions as AAO since 2010 while senior most non-qualified SE are also waiting for promotion as AAO against their one-third share,” he said.

Mr Iftikhar said 10pc quota reserved for junior auditor (JA) to be promoted as SA and 10pc quota reserved for lower staff to be promoted as JA had also not been filled while the existing policy of the federal government allows contract appointment to the sons/daughters of deceased/in-service death of civil servant but this facility is not for the audit office employees but much qualified heirs of deceased employees remain uncompensated.

He requested the AGP and controller general of accounts Pakistan to look into the matter by constituting a promotion committee and promotions should be given to the employees who have been deprived of their right for years.

He said as the government has failed to fulfil their demands, the association has decided to lodge a countrywide protest, and strategy in this regard would be devised in the meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2019