ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to hire three director generals in BS-20 on a contract basis, preferably retired commissioned officers. Three posts of director generals, including DG Law and DG Planning, recently fell vacant after the retirement of two CDA officers.

Meanwhile, several other DG posts remain vacant due to pending promotions of CDA officers, and these offices are currently being officiated by BS-19 officers. A large number of CDA officers in BS-19 have been waiting for promotions for several years.

However, the CDA management on Friday announced that it would hire three new BS-20 DGs, preferably retired commissioned officers from the armed forces. It will be interesting to see how the new DGs will work under BS-19 members of the CDA board, as currently two members of the board are in BS-19.

Two other members of the CDA board, are serving on a contract basis after their retirement from their parent departments.

Interestingly, there is no age limit mentioned in the CDA advertisement for hiring the three DGs. The advertisement, while describing qualifications, stated, “Second-class master’s degree or equivalent qualification (16 years of education), with at least 25 years’ experience in the government sector.”

It added that the employees will be hired on a contract basis for two years, extendable further if required, and will have no vested right for regular appointment. “Candidates already serving in government sector organisations are required to submit a no-objection certificate (NOC) from their department along with the application,” it said.

CDA officials said that the posts of DGs are specialised. They stated that a civil engineer is supposed to head the engineering wing, while a town planner should be appointed as DG Town Planning. Similarly, an environmentalist should be appointed as DG Environment, and a candidate with legal expertise should be appointed as DG Law.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2026