PESHAWAR: Provincial Management Service Officers Association (PMSOA) has expressed concerns over the massive reshuffle of bureaucrats recently and urged the chief secretary to avoid any governance crisis during the ongoing situation in the province.

According to details, the association wrote a letter to Chief Secretary Imdadullah Bosal on Friday stating that career officers were summoned to the secretariat ‘pre-maturely’ without completing their tenure.

The letter said that the massive reshuffle in bureaucracy was carried out on the directives of Election Commission of Pakistan to provide an enabling environment for holding free and fair elections in the province. It said that the reshuffled bureaucrats were labelled with political affiliation which would ruin their career in the coming years of service.

“Besides, the newly posted capable and career officers will also be at risk of replacement on the same ground after few months once elections are over,” the letter said. It added that if there was any formula of shuffling the officers, it should have been applied across the board.

The officers requested the chief secretary to look into the matter on immediate basis to avoid any governance crisis in the province in the current critical and volatile situation.

On Thursday, the KP government in a massive shakeup of provincial bureaucracy transferred 61 senior officers. In a notification issued on Thursday, apart from 28 deputy commissioners and four administrative secretaries, seven divisional commissioners were also transferred.

Peshawar Commissioner Riaz Khan Mehsud was transferred and directed to report to the establishment department while Mohammad Zubair, after his arrival from the federal government, was posted as commissioner of Peshawar division.

Similarly, Mardan Commissioner Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah, Kohat Commissioner Mohammad Aslam, Malakand Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam and Bannu Commissioner Matiullah Khan were also transferred and directed to report to the establishment department. Hazara Commissioner Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was transferred and posted as commissioner of Kohat division.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2023