Paralysing the govt: PMS officers tired of being passed over by federal counterparts

Say they will now take extreme measures such as going on complete strike

PESHAWAR:

Discontentment among Provincial Management Services (PMS) officers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has increased over time as they have started considering taking severe steps to secure their position against federal officers.

“One of these steps will include going on an infinite strike,” a representative of the PMS Officers Association said. It recently upped efforts to protect its ranks from being undermined by the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) officers who enjoy most key posts in the province. Such a strike could paralyse the workings of the government, delaying things like preparations for the FY2016-17 budget.

Officials in the know, requesting anonymity, said the association recently held a meeting in the provincial capital during which they decided to write letters to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and the chief secretary. They added a letter had been dispatched to Khattak after which he called them in for a meeting on Thursday. The chief minister assured these officers of his full cooperation.

“We will wait for 10 days to two weeks for the results of the meeting and in case we do not see any positive action, we will go on a complete strike,” said an official.

Undermined

The association is unhappy with their service structure, discrimination in posting/transfers and the inactiveness of a subcommittee of the K-P Assembly headed by Minister for Labour Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli. The committee had been tasked with addressing the grievances of the association.

The committee held meetings with both PAS and PMS, along with the K-P Establishment and Administration Department, and its report was almost complete. “However, the report was discarded and never submitted in the house,” said a senior representative of the PMS Officers Association.

In August 2015, the association went on a “pen-down” strike till the K-P Assembly speaker intervened and handed the matter over to the house committee on law reforms. Subsequently, a subcommittee was formed, headed by Tahirkheli, to look into the matter.



“We are not against the PAS officers, but we want positive reforms in the civil services and our service structure so that our officers do not have to worry about their promotions and can concentrate on their work,” the official added. He demanded there should be no preference between PMS and PAS officials because both are equally capable and came into service through challenging examinations.

Decidedly super or inferior

The source recalled one of the association members lashed out at Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan at the CM House meeting as the latter was calling PAS officers “superior” and undermining PMS staff. “[The association member] responded, saying PMS officers are sons of the soil and have opted to serve the province,” the official said, narrating the events of the meeting.

The officials were happy with the CM’s response in the meeting, however. “We invited the CM for a dinner which we are going to throw soon, but he refused, saying he will join the gathering after addressing their woes.”

Delayed progress

The PMS association members said their Provincial Selection Board (PSB)—mandatory for promotions—was not prompt and the committee headed by Tahirkheli was inactive and had not held a single meeting in the past six months.

The officials said under the apportionment formula of 1993, the number of posts for PAS in K-P is 215 (BS-17 to BS-22), but officers of other provinces were promoted to these slots instead of civil servants from K-P. In many cases, the slots were also kept vacant.

“Hardly four to six PAS officers were taken from K-P and hundreds of slots were left open,” one PMS officer in BS-17 said.

Passed over for PAS

His own hopes for a promotion dwindled as almost 500 officers were waiting their turn for these coveted slots. “We have 125 BS-18 slots and we are in the hundreds,” he said.

The official stated the establishment department, which is their parent entity, was headed by a PAS officer and their colleagues were being discriminated against and ignored in foreign trainings. The official also pointed towards discrimination in field postings. “The political agents in all seven tribal agencies are PAS officers, while 16 slots of the deputy commissioner are also occupied by PAS officers,” he said.

When asked about the report of the subcommittee on law reforms, Tahirkheli said, “I have been stopped from proceedings by the advocate general and law department, saying the matter is sub judice in the Supreme Court.”

She added, “I have almost completed my workings and am close to formulating the report.”

Tahirkheli said she wanted to see the issue resolved as early as possible. The PMS association, however, refuted the notion, saying a general case was being heard at the Supreme Court and there was no restriction in the court possibly developing reforms in our case.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th,  2016.