Establishment dept says civil servants’ issues redressed

Steps have been taken based on committee’s recommendation

PESHAWAR: Provincial civil servants may not agree with it, but the Establishment department says it has redressed most of their issues and complaints based on recommendations of a ministers’ committee.

Information shared by the K-P Establishment department shows that the government promoted 193 officers over the past year, which is more than the number of promotions over the last decade in the province.

The details provided by the department stated that in the last six meetings of the Provincial Selection Board (PSB), scores of officers were promoted to the next grades.

The department nominated 57 officers of different grades for training courses, while 67 posts were included in Schedule-II of the PMS Rules 2007. It stated the department moved a summary to the chief minister to repatriate all those on deputation and working on cadre posts.

The department had taken these steps following recommendations of the ministers’ committee constituted by the chief minister to resolve the issues of PMS/PCS officers who went on a pen-down strike in May and were holding a sit-in at Civil Secretariat outside the chief secretary’s office.

The officers had been protesting and pressing for their demands for the last year. They have gone on a pen-down strike twice during this period of time.

The officers demanded a revision of Schedule-II of the PMS Rules 2007. The promotion of PCS/PMS officers is calculated on the basis of the number of posts included in Schedule-II of PMS Rules 2007 and the committee recommended the same.

It says some posts could not be included in Schedule-II due to the lack of service rules. It was also stated that the Establishment department had issued letters to the necessary authorities to formulate rules for the said posts so they could be included and PMS/PCS officers could be promoted to these posts.

The committee also called for the repatriation officers of federal, provincial department and autonomous bodies posted on schedule posts as it hampered the promotion chances of the PCS/PMS officers. The Establishment department’s information shows that seven ex-cadre officers were transferred from cadre posts and directions were issued to all secretaries to repatriate officers on deputation. A summary in this regard was to the CM. Currently, 20 federal government officers and 26 provincial government departments’ were working on cadre posts.

The PCS/PMS officers also wanted parity in their postings when compared to the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS)—the federal cadre of officers. However, the department maintains that postings are made through a formula defining the share of PAS and PMS/PCS officers against posts of different grades. Currently, of the total 40 slots for administrative secretaries, 17 are PAS officers, 16 are PMS and seven are vacant. All the political agents are PAS officers and three commissioners are from the federal care, while, four are PMS officers.

Of the deputy commissioners (DCs), 15 are PAS officers and 10 are PMS. Similarly, two additional political agents are PAS and three are PMS, while two slots are vacant.

From the total 25 Assistant Political Agents, 23 are PMS and two are PAS. Also, 45 assistant commissioners are PMS, while 11 are PAS.

The PMS officers objected over postings of PAS officers to the majority of key administrative and field posts. The provincial civil servants also objected over the lengthy and unending enquiries against them. They took particular objection to De-Novo enquiries.

The committee recommended that all inquiries ordered as De-Novo, without indicating specific reasons, may be considered closed. Moreover, there should be a fixed timeframe to conclude the enquiries. In case of an unnecessary delay, action may be taken against the enquiry officer and the investigation against the accused officer may be closed.

The Establishment department has not provided any explanatory information; however, it shared that enquiries against seven officers were related to efficiency and disciplinary rules.

The department also agreed to the recommendation of giving representation to PMS/PCS in the Provincial Service Board (PSB). It was also examining the possibility of granting permanent status to the ministers’ committee to redress the grievances of PMS/PCS officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2016.