PESHAWAR: Regular employees of the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) have objected to the prolonged posting of an officer from another development authority as director (finance) at their civic agency, fearing it will affect their career prospects.

A senior PDA official questioned the rationale for appointing a non-regular employee as director (finance) when the authority’s own senior officers worked under him.

He said the PDA designated the director (finance) post for a grade-19 officer. However, the incumbent joined the authority on deputation from the Swabi Development Authority in BPS-18, while three senior deputy directors of finance, also in BPS-18, work under him amid concerns about their career progression.

Officials said the director (finance), who was originally employed by the Swabi Development Authority as a contractual BPS-17 employee, was posted to the PDA as an accounts officer in 2017 and later upgraded to BPS-18.

Say move will affect their career prospects

They said the arrangement took a significant turn when the then director (finance), Mohammad Iqbal, proceeded on 60 days of earned leave on November 17, 2022, and the incumbent was immediately directed to assume the “look-after” charge of director (finance). What was intended as a temporary stopgap arrangement has now continued for nearly four years, the officials said. They claimed that the three regular deputy directors of finance had to submit their annual confidential reports (ACRs) to an officer whose legal status and continued appointment at the authority remained questionable.

The officials said the PDA and the Urban Areas Development Authority (UADA) were separate statutory bodies governed by different laws. Under Section 49(1) of the PDA Act, 2017, regularisation creates a distinct cadre specifically for PDA employees.

Similarly, Section 45 of the UADA Act, 2020, applies only to UADA’s own administrative structure. Merely posting a contractual UADA employee to the PDA does not legally make him a regular PDA officer, according to them.

The officials said the PDA Board, led by the chief minister, explicitly ruled on April 29, 2018, under Clause 6(2)(ae) of the Act that any deputation or stopgap arrangement must remain strictly temporary, be recommended by the PDA director general, approved by the secretary of local government and ratified by the board.

Extending a temporary assignment over several years violates the board’s policy.

They said the original notification, dated July 18, 2017, explicitly described the appointment as “purely on contract basis” and made it subject to termination on one month’s notice. However, the temporary contractual appointment has evolved into a long-term position overseeing the PDA’s financial affairs.

Officials said the controversy intensified in August when the PDA director general issued orders on August 12, 2026, for the repatriation of all officers posted to the PDA from the UADA, including engineers, planners and finance cadre officers. However, none of those officers, including the director (finance), has complied with the orders, according to them.

Acting PDA Director General Zubair Ahmad Niazi could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.

Several other senior PDA officials were also approached but they declined to comment on the record.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2026