3,431 posts for Balochistan vacant in different ministries

Issue of vacant posts has been a matter of discussion standing committees

ISLAMABAD: More than 3,000 posts reserved under the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package for holders of the province’s domicile have been lying vacant in 50 federal government ministries and departments.

According to the data shared with the National Assembly, some 7,927 seats against 11,358 federal government posts reserved for Balochistan, under the 6% quota for the province, have been filled. However, 3,431 posts of different grades have been vacant for several years now.

Majority of the vacant positions are concerned with the ministries of defense, water and power, industries and production as well as post office and other departments.



The Ministry for Water and Power has the most number of vacant posts – 838 in grade 1 to 20, of which 815 fall in the grade 1 to 16 category.

The second highest number of vacant positions is 584 lying in the Ministry of Industries and Production, while the Ministry of Defence has 460 vacant posts.

The details of the vacant and occupied posts were recently shared in the National Assembly by the Establishment Division’s research centre – a special committee tasked to deal with such issues.

As per the data, 308 positions are vacant in grade 17 to 22, of which 230 are related to grade 17, followed by 40, 34, 03 and 01 related to grades 18, 19, 20 and 21 respectively.



And in grade 1 to 16, some 3,122 positions have been lying vacant. The data also shows a fluctuating trend as some 530 posts are vacant in grade 5; 398 in grade 2; and 283 in grade 16.

Meanwhile, 191 posts are vacant in the Ministry of Communications and postal services; 143 in federal revenue; 133 in finance division; and 137 in capital administration and development division.

Similarly, 84 positions are vacant in aviation division; 24 in cabinet division; 79 in defence production; 75 in education ministry; 28 in information ministry; 28 in law and justice ministry; 62 in railways ministry; 23 in overseas Pakistanis ministry; 22 in statistics division; and 16 in textile division among others.

The Ministry of Defence leads the pack with most occupied seats from the province – with 2,257.

Interestingly, Balochistan’s quota for the top posts is also close to non-existent as only six ministries have 12 posts allocated for the province in grade 20; four have been sanctioned in grade 21; while there is no quota for the province in in grade 22. Furthermore, no quota has been set aside for the province in grades 20 to 22 in the rest of the 24 ministries.

Senator Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini, while speaking to The Express Tribune, said that the issue had been raised several times before the government and parliament, but nobody took Balochistan seriously.



“Even despite the unemployment in Balochistan, such issues are not the focus of the federal government,” he deplored, adding that the government was only interested in the issues where it could expect some returns or kickbacks.

Senator Daud Khan Achakzai from Balochistan expressed similar views: “At the federal level, not a single secretary is from Balochistan. If the quota is not fulfilled, how will the sense of deprivation be diminished?”

The issue of vacant posts, including the under-representation of civil servants from Balochistan on senior positions, has been a matter of discussion not only in both houses of parliament but also in standing committees.