Balochistan facing shortage of admin, police officers
Officers from province unwilling to serve there
PHOTO: INP
ISLAMABAD:
Balochistan is facing a severe shortage of Pakistan Administrative Service group officers as there are 61 seats vacant in top five grades (between BPS-18 and BPS-22) out of 103 vacancies among all provinces, Establishment Division Secretary Tahir Shahbaz told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Thursday.
According to him, even officers from Balochistan are reluctant to take charge of their posts in the volatile province. Senator Talha Mehmood chaired the meeting.
Lives of three ace footballers snuffed out in Quetta assault
Lawmakers bemoaned the province’s managerial deprivation, saying that it was already facing worsening law and order situation.
The secretary stated that there were five vacancies of grade 21, 23 of grade 20, 35 of grade 19 and 40 of grade 18, only 1, 5, 19 and 17 were staffed, respectively.
“Why is the province marginalised? The figures clearly demonstrate discrimination,” said Senator Kulsoom Perveen, adding that not a single chief secretary or inspector-general of police from the province had been appointed in a long time.
The secretary said that to overcome the deficiency, they were going to make it mandatory for all PAS officers to serve at least two years in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, even PAS officers who served in other provinces. Besides, he said that PAS and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers from Balochistan were also mandated to serve in Balochistan for at least seven years to get promoted to grade 20.
He lamented that even officers from the province were reluctant to serve in Balochistan despite the fact they were offered higher salaries than other provinces.
61 killed, at least 165 injured as militants storm police training centre in Quetta
“Special measures are needed to deal with special situations,” Perveen stated.
Sharing the reasons for the shortage, Shahbaz stated that other provinces were also facing similar deficiencies.
Pointing out the poor CSS results in recent years, he said: “There is a shortage of competent candidates and the number of officers passing competitive examinations is even lower while the vacant seats are increasing,” he said.
Stressing the need for overhauling training, promotion and rotation policies of the civil services, he said: “The civil services have lost their charm.”
He said that it was vital to incentivise the grades to lure capable people to join the civil services, adding that brilliant people easily get jobs in major private sector organisations.
However, he said the Establishment Division was reforming the service structure, making it more attractive for potential candidates.
Terming the shortage worrisome, he said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was trailing behind Balochistan in terms of shortage of PAS and PSP officers.
In K-P, five out of 10 seats were vacant in grade 21 while of 44 seats of grade 20, only 24 were staffed. Grade 19 had a total of 61 seats and only 16 were occupied.
Similarly, out of 19 posts in grade 21 in Punjab, six were vacant while 34 seats were vacant in grade 20.
In Sindh, out of 12 seats in grade 21 about eight were vacant and 58 seats were vacant in grade 20.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2016.
Balochistan is facing a severe shortage of Pakistan Administrative Service group officers as there are 61 seats vacant in top five grades (between BPS-18 and BPS-22) out of 103 vacancies among all provinces, Establishment Division Secretary Tahir Shahbaz told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Thursday.
According to him, even officers from Balochistan are reluctant to take charge of their posts in the volatile province. Senator Talha Mehmood chaired the meeting.
Lives of three ace footballers snuffed out in Quetta assault
Lawmakers bemoaned the province’s managerial deprivation, saying that it was already facing worsening law and order situation.
The secretary stated that there were five vacancies of grade 21, 23 of grade 20, 35 of grade 19 and 40 of grade 18, only 1, 5, 19 and 17 were staffed, respectively.
“Why is the province marginalised? The figures clearly demonstrate discrimination,” said Senator Kulsoom Perveen, adding that not a single chief secretary or inspector-general of police from the province had been appointed in a long time.
The secretary said that to overcome the deficiency, they were going to make it mandatory for all PAS officers to serve at least two years in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, even PAS officers who served in other provinces. Besides, he said that PAS and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers from Balochistan were also mandated to serve in Balochistan for at least seven years to get promoted to grade 20.
He lamented that even officers from the province were reluctant to serve in Balochistan despite the fact they were offered higher salaries than other provinces.
61 killed, at least 165 injured as militants storm police training centre in Quetta
“Special measures are needed to deal with special situations,” Perveen stated.
Sharing the reasons for the shortage, Shahbaz stated that other provinces were also facing similar deficiencies.
Pointing out the poor CSS results in recent years, he said: “There is a shortage of competent candidates and the number of officers passing competitive examinations is even lower while the vacant seats are increasing,” he said.
Stressing the need for overhauling training, promotion and rotation policies of the civil services, he said: “The civil services have lost their charm.”
He said that it was vital to incentivise the grades to lure capable people to join the civil services, adding that brilliant people easily get jobs in major private sector organisations.
However, he said the Establishment Division was reforming the service structure, making it more attractive for potential candidates.
Terming the shortage worrisome, he said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was trailing behind Balochistan in terms of shortage of PAS and PSP officers.
In K-P, five out of 10 seats were vacant in grade 21 while of 44 seats of grade 20, only 24 were staffed. Grade 19 had a total of 61 seats and only 16 were occupied.
Similarly, out of 19 posts in grade 21 in Punjab, six were vacant while 34 seats were vacant in grade 20.
In Sindh, out of 12 seats in grade 21 about eight were vacant and 58 seats were vacant in grade 20.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2016.