The court has been told by the attorney-general that there are currently 152 such employees. Of these, 15, including the director-general of the FIA and the inspector-general of Sindh police, are to be removed. The court also inquired as to why retired army officers were being appointed as secretaries and what qualifications they possessed to make them suitable candidates for these posts.
The questions raised by the bench are highly relevant ones and need answers. The unfortunate tradition of re-employment on contract has grown more and more deeply entrenched over the years. It has disrupted the system of promotion within government departments and thwarted career opportunities for promising mid-level officers, while the practice of bringing in army officials to fill posts previously held by civilians amounts to an act of injustice against those who have devoted their careers to the civil services. Military officers receive substantial perks, which should mean they do not require ‘rewards’ in other forms.
The apex court’s observations help focus attention on a crucial issue. We must hope it will lead to the situation being remedied. Merely ordering the exit of a few officials hired on contract is insufficient. What we need is for a policy to be put in place against such hiring and the system of promotions laid out within departments to be fully implemented. Unless this happens, nepotism and ad-hocism will remain in place and, as a consequence, our administrative set-up will continue to grow weaker and less able to serve the interests of the people. We have already seen this happen over a period of years. The process needs to be halted before it completely corrodes the mechanisms used to run the state.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2011.
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