LAHORE: Under a Supreme Court (SC) ruling, retired persons re-employed on contract against cadre posts and those blocking promotions of eligible officials at cadres’ strength will be removed, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The ruling was made on a suo motu case about alleged corruption in Hajj arrangements last year.
A senior official said on condition of anonymity that the people hired from the private sector on contract would continue unaffected as their appointments were not made against cadre strength and did not violate the Punjab Civil Servants Act and the Esta code.
As many as 30 senior retired officers from the Police Services of Pakistan, the District Management Group, judiciary and various provincial services were re-employed by the Punjab government on administrative posts in violation of the Re-employment Policy of 2003 and the Contract Appointment Policy of 2004. Additionally, people were hired to head various boards and companies established in the province under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance of 1984.
In response to a letter written by the services and general administration department (S&GAD), secretary of the Punjab Cooperative Board of Liquidation (PCBL) maintained that its chairperson had been appointed under Section 5(4) of the Punjab Undesirable Cooperative Societies Act of 1993 and as chairperson of the Punjab Privatisation Board (PPB) under Section 7 of PPB Act of 2010. The appointment was made as a prerogative of the government, according to prescribed qualifications and was not in violation of the apex court’s judgment, according to sections 13(1) and 14 of the Pakistan Civil Servants Act of 1974 and Esta Code Vol-1 Edition of 2007.
According to the PPB act, the government can appoint any person as the chairperson for a period not exceeding four years and the post is not a cadre post and does not block promotion of any cadre official.
The official said that the Punjab government would furnish a report to the establishment division regarding re-employment of retired people.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2011.
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