PESHAWAR, Jan 5: The federal government is learnt to have decided to regularize the services of all ad hoc and contract employees in the Federal Investigation Agency and a notification to this effect would be issued after fulfilling legal requirements.

The FIA headquarters had started collecting data about the employees working on ad hoc and contract basis on different positions for over a decade across the country, well-placed source told Dawn on Wednesday. said.

According to the sources, the FIA headquarters in an official letter sent to all regional offices two days ago asked them to comment on annual confidential reports (ACRs) of ad hoc and contract employees.

The contents of the letter suggested that the interior ministry had decided to regularize the services of all these personnel in coming weeks, they said. A large number of FIA officials were appointed on different positions during the two tenures of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister, they said.

The first appointments of these officials were made in 1989-90 on ad hoc basis, mainly on political grounds, they said and added that about eight assistant directors were appointed without fulfilling legal formalities and in violation of provincial quota system.

"Yes, we have decided to regularize the services of all the ad hoc and contract employees of the FIA," Director Establishment Farid Nawaz, told Dawn by telephone from Islamabad.

"But we have put a condition that these ad hoc and contract employees should withdraw all their cases filed in the court for regularization of their services," he said.

If they withdraw their cases, then the government would confirm their services, Mr Farid said. "We are also considering the legal formality to ask these officials to appear in the FPSC examination. If they got through their examinations their services will be regularized." But it was still a proposal, no decision has been taken yet, he added.