Promotions of civil servants delayed further

Exit of ED secretary has deferred finalisation of minutes of CSB meeting

ISLAMABAD: The untimely exit of the secretary Establishment Division has further delayed the promotions of civil servants as the prime minister has yet to be forwarded the summary and minutes of the Central Selection Board (CSB) meeting for a final approval.

The Ministry of Law and Justice on July 19 issued a notification appointing Secretary Establishment Division Syed Tahir Shahbaz as Federal Ombudsman for four years. The post fell vacant after Salman Farooqi completed his tenure on February 28, 2017.

Shahbaz’s new appointment at such a critical time has created confusion within the Establishment Division where a meeting of the CSB for the promotions of senior civil servants was held in June on the directives of the Supreme Court.



After the passage of over a month, the Establishment Division has yet to formally send the minutes of the meeting along with the summary to the PM who is the final authority for promotions.

According to sources, Federal Public Service Commission Secretary Haseeb Athar has already signed the minutes.

However, “the untimely exit of Establishment Division’s head has delayed the finalisation of minutes, and no senior officer is willing to take the additional charge for now,” said a senior officer in the division who was not allowed to talk to media.

The CSB meeting, held in June, reconsidered the promotion of more than 1,100 civil servants from the board of 2015 on the apex court’s directives after several litigants had moved the court against the board.

There was a buzz on Monday that Establishment Division’s special secretary Hayauddin was being given an additional charge till the appointed of a permanent secretary.

The delay in promotions has caused rumours in the bureaucratic circles that the government is unwilling to carry out the long-due promotions, hit by litigation.



“The government did this on purpose just to prolong the process for some specific reasons,” said another official referring to Principle Secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad.

Fawad is awaiting promotion in grade 22 among other senior civil servants appointed across the country.

According to a senior official, since the government is in the last year of its tenure, it must be looking for a loyal to be appointed to head the Establishment Division, besides reconsidering some names that might have been rejected by the CSB.

The Express Tribune requested senior officers to comment on the delay in signing minutes of the CSB meeting and on when the next secretary would be appointed, but nobody was willing to share their mind on the issues.