Contract officials: Committee proposes axing fifty bureaucrats

Committee proposes names of 50 senior officers employed by the federal government to the prime minister.

ISLAMABAD: A committee constituted by the government to recommend contract officials whose services are to be terminated, has proposed the names of 50 senior officers employed by the federal government to the prime minister.

The employment of retired bureaucrats on extension contracts is being scrutinised to determine their status in light of the Civil Services rules.

“The government is reviewing the relative merit of officers working on contract and it will take time to forward the final summary to the prime minister,” said Establishment Division secretary Rauf Chaudhry.

The prime minister reserves the right to dismiss officials from service. Over 50 senior officials employed on contract were given extension in violation of the prescribed rules, say establishment division officials.

Around 10,000 employees are working on contract in the federal government. Some contractual employees are likely to be terminated by the first week of March when the federation’s counsel, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada will submit his reply before the apex court, officials supervising the development revealed.

The termination orders of six senior officers had been withheld. They are Director General Federal Investigation Agency Waseem Ahmad, DIG Traffic Police Sindh Khurram Gulzar, DIG Training Nadir Hussain Khoso, DIG Larkana range DIG Din Muhammad Baloch, Deputy Secretary Port Qasim Authority Muhammad Zamir Farooqui and Director Staff of the National School of Public Policy Brig (Retd) Shahid Akram Kardar.

The prime minister has said that, “At present, there is no alternative,” officials told The Express Tribune. He delayed the suspension of some senior officers even though he originally wanted to sack all 15 bureaucrats whose names were forwarded by the establishment division, but faced pressure from members of his own party who wanted him to retain some of the bureaucrats whose services he must terminate to comply with the SC’s directive, sources said.

The committee comprises Secretary ED, Secretary Cabinet Division Nargis Sethi, Secretary Law Pir Muhammad Masood Chishti and Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masud Khan and Chairman FBR Salman Siddique.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2011.