Promotions: Information and PR dept to adopt four-tier formula

Incompetent officials to be sacked before new system launches

PESHAWAR:

To reward competent officers, the government is adopting a four-tier promotion formula in the information and public relations department. Not missing a step, the government has decided to sack incompetent and “lazy officers” in the department, insiders requesting anonymity shared this with The Express Tribune on Sunday.

The need

The department, particularly the directorate of information and public relations, has many officers who have never been promoted. “They have served in the same grades in which they were recruited two or three decades ago,” an insider said.

“I was promoted only once during the former Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government and since then—more than a decade—have not been promoted while my batch mates who were recruited in other departments have reached grade-20,” a senior official of the directorate, requesting anonymity, said. The official added unlike employees of the Civil Secretariat, officials of the directorate of information and public relations do not have a proper service structure which causes them to stagnate in one grade no matter how much their work outshines others. “Some officials in our department have spent 32 years in one grade and are about to retire without any promotion.”

Reward and punishment

The senior official said their department secretary presented the proposal to adopt a four-tier formula to the chief minister who not only approved it but demanded it be implemented within a month. The meeting was held the week before last in the presence of the secretaries for finance, establishment and administration.



However, even before this four-tier promotion formula will be implemented, the information department will be firing incompetent officials who are “a burden on government kitty and the department”.

Information secretary Abid Majeed confirmed this to The Express Tribune and said, “Punishments and rewards should go side by side. Those officials who are not working have to go; we do not run a charity.”

1, 14, 34, 50

Insiders said a four-tier formula has been adopted and approved by the chief minister whereby officials are to be promoted at a ratio of 1, 15, 34 and 50. Explaining the formula, the official said, “At least 50% officials serving in grade-17 are to be upgraded to grade-18, 34% serving in grade-18 would be promoted to 19, 15% working in grade-19 would be promoted to 20 while the 1% serving in grade-20 would be promoted to grade-21.”

The official added the policy would be revised after every three years and provisions for new recruitments in available slots would also be made. According to the official, about 40 officers are serving in grade-17 and 50% of them would be promoted under the formula.

“Only competent officers will be promoted under the formula,” he said, adding “fit” meant physically as well as mentally. He also said the formula has already been used by the department of higher education, secondary education, and social welfare. The health department has an eight-tier formula.

Regarding the directorate’s clerical staff, the official said they would not be promoted because of the recent two-step upgradation.

You’re fired

Regarding the dismissal of incompetent officials, the insider said, “The news of the formula and sackings is reaching officials and 10 people have submitted their leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) applications as they know they will be forced to retire.”

The official added the formula for promotions will be applied after the expulsion of inefficient officials and will be completed within a month.

Regarding the number of potential terminations, Majeed said results will only be evident once data is compiled.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2016.