PESHAWAR, Jan 26: The NWFP government has requisitioned the services of a Grade 21 officer, Faheem Khattak, from the Audit and Accounts Group, to post him as secretary for finance, a lucrative post going vacant in March.

The decision was taken recently after Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti declined to offer extension in service to the incumbent finance secretary, an official told Dawn.

The NWFP establishment department, the official said, had sent a requisition for the services of Mr Khattak to the establishment division, Islamabad, a few days ago.

The incumbent secretary for finance, Ziaur Rehman, a Grade 21 officer from the Provincial Civil Service, is reaching the age of superannuation in March.

He has served on the same post for almost five years in intervals. During the former MMA setup, he served for almost four years, while during the caretaker government period, he was posted as secretary for industries, but was brought back by the present government.

The establishment department had forwarded a request, which was supported by the NWFP chief secretary, to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat for retaining Ziaur Rehman. The chief minister, however, had declined in line with prescribed rules and regulations, the official maintained.

Extension of services of civil servants has been one of the contentious issues in the NWFP and the former MMA government has often been criticised for reemploying officials after their retirements even though it is prohibited under the rules. The former coalition government had reemployed over 20 senior officers against different posts in violation of rules and regulations, the official said.

According to a circular of the establishment department dated Dec 18, 1990, service extension to an officer reaching the age of superannuation cannot be granted.

However, this rule can be relaxed in case of the chairman or member of the Public Service Commission, NWFP Services Tribunal, and vice-chancellors of public universities, chairmen of Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education and officials of autonomous bodies.

Similarly, resolution No. 63 of the NWFP Assembly, which was adopted unanimously, had also declared that civil servants after reaching the age of superannuation would be fired with immediate effect.

The logic behind not allowing reemployment of retired government servants, the official said, was to avoid blockage of new employments and promotions.

He said the incumbent ANP-led provincial government had discouraged reemployment of retired officials and except for extension given to a police officer; all such requests forwarded to the chief minister had been declined.

Also, contractual services of a number of officials had been terminated before due date, but still there were many officials from the same category serving in the province, the official maintained.

He said the replacement at top would be followed by a spate of reshuffling in the finance department, adding the new secretary would make his own team of financial managers.

The immediate challenges before the new finance secretary, the official said, would be effectively pleading the province’s case in the coming deliberations for the next the National Finance Commission, resolution of the longstanding issue of the net hydel profit and ensuring fiscal discipline with limited resources.