Government retains incumbent chief economist

Development comes despite pleas from Economist Group to promote one of theirs

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to retain incumbent chief economist, Dr Nadeem Javaid, for two more years after it again decided not to fill the post by appointing a person from the professional service - the Economist Group.

The two-year contracts of Dr Nadeem Javaid and other members of the Planning Commission expired a few months ago and the government advertised these posts, inviting applications from the outgoing as well as from other candidates from the private sector. However, it conducted the interviews of only fresh candidates.

“The interviews for the post of chief economist were conducted last week but we did not find a better person,” said Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform.

Dr Javaid will continue working for the Planning Commission, he added.

The government made the decision to retain the incumbent chief economist after it decided not to return the sole grade-22 position pertaining to the Economics portfolio to the Economist Group and turned down a representation given by Ijaz Wasti - the senior most officer of the group.

Wasti, who is currently serving as Economic Advisor in Ministry of Finance, had pleaded before the Secretary of Planning Ministry for his case to be sent to the High Powered Board for promotion to grade 22 and that he may be considered for the chief economist position.

“I sent the request through Secretary Finance but the Ministry of Planning turned it down,” confirmed Wasti while talking to The Express Tribune. The post of chief economist is the right of the Economist Group, he added.

The Economic Advisor said that due to marginalisation of the Group, the group’s officers were feeling demoralised and disappointed, claiming he was eligible for the post of the chief economist.

Currently, Wasti and Samiullah Khan have completed their minimum two-year term in grade-21 - one of the key criteria for promotion to the next highest grade. However, the Planning Ministry disputes the two-year criteria.

For promotion to grade-22, the minimum service requirement in grade-21 for the Economist Group is five years, said Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, Secretary Ministry of Planning.

However, the Economist Group people argue that in Nargis Sethi case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had lowered the service requirement in grade-21 from three to two years for all cadres and from five to two years for professional services like the Economist Group.

The Economist Group is professional service group, constituted under the Civil Service Reforms of 1973. The Planning Commission is responsible for preparing the National Plan and reviewing and evaluating its implementation, formulation of the annual plan, monitoring and evaluation of major development projects and programmes to see how far they have been implemented.

There is also a strong view in the Planning Commission that promotion to the next grade should not be treated as a right but economists should earn it. According to the rules, “The post of chief economist of basic pay scale 22 and all posts in pay scale 21, including posts of joint chief economist, economic adviser (BS-21) shall be filled by promotion”.

Dr Javaid was appointed as the chief economist from the private sector in 2014. In 2013, the government had eased the experience condition for the chief economist from 25 years to 15 years. According to the original job requirements, which were subsequently amended, the chief economist should have 10 years of experience in economic policymaking.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2016.

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