Jumping ranks: Out-of-turn promotions in G-B police exposed
Senior officials hint at reversing these upgrades following departure of IGP
First batch of trainees consists of 33 recruits. PHOTO SOURCE: GILGIT BALTISTAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
GILGIT:
In what could become a test for the regional government, dozens of out-of-turn promotions in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) police department have surfaced with some high-level officers hinting at reversing them.
The disclosures came days after the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while maintaining an earlier decision, ordered the demotion of 121 officials of the Punjab police who had been promoted irregularly.
The promotions had mostly been made during the tenure of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zafar Iqbal Awan, who had been posted in G-B for two-year. “There are about four dozen such cases in which individuals were given undue favour,” an insider privy to the development said on Saturday while requesting to remain anonymous.
“This step has simply demoralised the remaining individuals in the force,” he told The Express Tribune.
The first such out-of-turn promotions were given to six policemen who had arrested wanted terrorists for whose capture the government had offered reward money.
According to a November 2015 notification, these six policemen had been promoted one grade ‘for showing extra-ordinary performance.’ The step, however, sparked unrest amongst the lower and middle ranking officers within G-B police who felt something was off in these promotions since rewards in such cases were already determined in the form of reward money.
In order to defuse the situation, the G-B police awarded ‘shoulder promotions’, a term used for rank elevations without change in basic pay grades, the next year to another 22 policemen. In addition to that, three women sub-inspectors also got promotions in 2016. The promotion to the women police was given by merging the seniority lists of women and male police employees which further affected the deserving police.
On the other hand, genuine promotion cases for a police inspector and a constable – recommended last year by the G-B governor for their daring efforts to defuse a bomb – was turned down terming it against Constitution and the injunctions of Islam.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 2nd, 2017.
In what could become a test for the regional government, dozens of out-of-turn promotions in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) police department have surfaced with some high-level officers hinting at reversing them.
The disclosures came days after the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while maintaining an earlier decision, ordered the demotion of 121 officials of the Punjab police who had been promoted irregularly.
The promotions had mostly been made during the tenure of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zafar Iqbal Awan, who had been posted in G-B for two-year. “There are about four dozen such cases in which individuals were given undue favour,” an insider privy to the development said on Saturday while requesting to remain anonymous.
“This step has simply demoralised the remaining individuals in the force,” he told The Express Tribune.
The first such out-of-turn promotions were given to six policemen who had arrested wanted terrorists for whose capture the government had offered reward money.
According to a November 2015 notification, these six policemen had been promoted one grade ‘for showing extra-ordinary performance.’ The step, however, sparked unrest amongst the lower and middle ranking officers within G-B police who felt something was off in these promotions since rewards in such cases were already determined in the form of reward money.
In order to defuse the situation, the G-B police awarded ‘shoulder promotions’, a term used for rank elevations without change in basic pay grades, the next year to another 22 policemen. In addition to that, three women sub-inspectors also got promotions in 2016. The promotion to the women police was given by merging the seniority lists of women and male police employees which further affected the deserving police.
On the other hand, genuine promotion cases for a police inspector and a constable – recommended last year by the G-B governor for their daring efforts to defuse a bomb – was turned down terming it against Constitution and the injunctions of Islam.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 2nd, 2017.