ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The federal government has fixed the officer-to-staff ratio at 2:5 in its restructuring and down-sizing plan for the federal ministries and divisions for next year, official sources told Dawn here on Sunday.

The official sources said with the implementation of the plan the surplus pool would be swelled up manifold.

The establishment division has assigned the responsibility of implementing the formula to the secretaries of various ministries, asking them to make internal adjustment of their staff in this regard.

In case of abolition of posts, occupied by deputationists and persons posted under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act 1973, the incumbent would be repatriated to the parent department, the sources said.

The government employees, rendered redundant due to the implementation of the new plan, would be enlisted with the surplus pool. “Since the number of surplus civil servants is expected to increase manifold, specific instructions for the administration of the surplus pool have been issued,” officials said.

According to the rules, the civil servants other than ad hoc and persons appointed against leave and deputation vacancies, who are rendered surplus as a result of the reorganization or abolition of his/her parent department or reduction in the number of posts after the implementation of the new plan, would remain in the surplus pool for a period of two years.

In case, these employees are not absorbed into any other department, their services would be terminated at the expiry of this period.

For civil servants, who have already completed the two-year period at the time of implementation of this new rule, it has been decided that they would be given an extra year whereafter their services would be terminated.

The officials placed in the surplus pool would remain on the pay rolls of their parent department as long as they remain in the surplus pool and would be entitled to pay and allowances last drawn by them while on regular assignment.

During all this period, the post held by the person placed in the surplus pool would be treated as supernumerary and would be abolished once the official is absorbed in some other department or is dismissed from the service after completion of two years’ period.

As regards the absorption of the employees in the surplus pool, it has been decided that employees in basic pay scale (BPS) 1-5 could be posted at the station of their last posting or place of domicile. Employees in BPS-6 and above can, however, be placed at a station other than that of their last place of posting or that of domicile subject to availability of the posts. Nevertheless, concerned departments have been directed to arrange their posting at a station nearest to that of their last posting.

The sources said it had also been decided that if an employee failed to report at the new assignment within the stipulated time, his/her services might be terminated. Conversely, they said, if the department refused to accept the said employee, the said post would be abolished.

Asked about the surplus employees of the autonomous bodies, the officials clarified that they were not civil servants and that their services were governed by the regulations operative in the respective individual departments.

However, they further said, ministries and divisions had been directed to formulate their own policy in consultation with the finance ministry for disposal of employees of autonomous bodies under their administrative control.