Many federal secretaries manipulate prestigious and lucrative appointments after retirement.
ISLAMABAD: According to reports, a bench of the Supreme Court has ordered the Establishment Division to furnish a list of retired civil servants who have been re-employed by the government after reaching the age of retirement. In Pakistan, the age of superannuation stipulated in the Civil Servants Act 1973 is 60 years. It means that a civil servant who has completed 60 years of his recorded age cannot continue in the service of Pakistan, in terms of Section 14 of the Civil Servants Act. However, this rule is blatantly violated in practice. Favoured retired civil servants and army officers are appointed in various government organisations without regard to this rule. The most sought-after positions are in the Prime Mininster’s Inspection Commission (PMIC), the Federal Public Service Commission, the Provincial Public Service Commissions and the Federal Service Tribunal. It may be interesting to note that the chairman of NAB, as well as that of the PMIC, are well past the age of retirement.
It is an open secret that these appointments are made on political and personal considerations. Many federal secretaries manipulate prestigious and lucrative appointments after retirement. These appointments not only breed frustration in the civil service but if we want rule of law and good governance in the country, only merit must prevail. There is also urgent need to evolve an oversight mechanism for monitoring crucial and strategic appointments in the government organisations.
Asghar Mahmood
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2012.
