SAHIWAL: Up to 76 male assistant professors (APs) have long been waiting for their promotion since 2016. Their 425 colleagues from the 2010-11 badge were promoted to grade 19. The pendency is due to lack of work by the Higher Education Department and the Service and General Administration Department (S&GAD).

A S&GAD source told Dawn the promotion of 76 cases would be done by the end of the month. Not only promotions are being delayed, 800 AP posts have also been lying vacant for years.

Dawn learnt the ‘clearance report’ of 76 APs issued by the director general of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has lapsed twice in the past three years. It is being said if S&GAD and additional chief secretary (ACS) offices fail to hold the Provincial Selection Board (PSB-II) till Feb 28, it will be the third lapse of the ACE clearance report which may result in delay of promotion for another year.

Sources in the HED office told Dawn the case of 76 APs promotions was dispatched to the S&GAD on Jan 10. The badge of 76 PAs was promoted to APs (Grade 18) through the Departmental Promotion Committee on July 7, 2010. Later in 2016, the same badge’s promotion case from AP to associate professor (Grade 19) with the ACR of year 2016 was submitted for PSB-II in March 2017. The promotion cases of seniority No 1250 to 1292 were left out because of some discrepancies.

Nasir Jappa, one of the affectees, told Dawn these cases were left out because of some technical negligence on part of the divisional directorate and the DPI Colleges, Punjab. The discrepancies were removed and cases were moved in January 2018 along with the 2017 ACRs and ACE clearance reports.

At that time, the HED decided that only such teachers would be promoted who would attain departmental promotion link training. The badge of 2010-11 college teachers whose colleagues were promoted to Grade 19 in 2017 without promotion link training were also asked to get training for promotion in 2019. They completed training and again their promotion cases were submitted with 2018 ACRs along with ACE clearance certificates.

The S&GAD, however, again raised objections to those cases. Last year, Covid -19 delayed promotions.

Chaudhry Arshad, an English teacher, said in case February passed without any development, a new ACE clearance report along with ACR of 2020 would have to be arranged.

A source at the S&GAD told Dawn the department had planned to hold a pre-PSB-II in the last week of February but now it planned to hold PSB-I which would delay the 76 promotion cases. The additional chief Secretary office told

Dawn that no pendency of promotion cases was on their end, and the moment the office received cases from the S&GAD, they would send it to the PSB-II.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2021