CADD bars employees from meeting officers directly

Division’s personnel approach secretaries even PM, president for their issues

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) barred all the employees of its attached departments from directly visiting and sending any applications to senior bureaucrats of the division for re-dressal of their issues.

The employees have been asked to route their requests and applications through heads of their organisations instead of sending these directly to the secretary, additional secretary, and joint secretary of CADD.



There are some 16 attached departments of CADD including hospitals, educational institutions and civic agencies wherein thousands of employees have been working who visit the division for multiple issues including lodging of complaints about their respective organisation.

However, the new management of the division has issued a circular to its attached departments and organisations asking employees to seek prior appointment for the meeting from the officers of CADD through their staff by stating the purpose and agenda of the meeting. Besides, no official of the attached department will demand any file from the dealing officials of the division.

It also states that no official of the attached department of CADD will verbally or in writing approach higher officers like prime minister or president bypassing CADD for any official or personal matter.

The circular says it has been observed that “the officials of the attached departments frequently visit the division to visit senior officers without prior appointment and without prior permission of head of their organisations and even contact prime minister and president for official and personal matters without bringing it into the knowledge of CADD. “Resultantly, work and schedule of this division is badly affected and this practice reflects bad on the CADD as an organisation,” the notification read.



Employees irked

The employees have criticised the circular saying due to plethora of issues in their parent departments they have to visit the division themselves sometimes to pursue their cases. Sometimes they need approval on urgent basis from the higher authorities but bureaucratic lethargy linger their issues.

A doctor said he had to attend a conference abroad and the division was unable to give its go ahead when the date of the conference was nearing so he had to personally pursue his case. But such restrictions would create problems for the thousands of employees working in attached departments.

Taking permissions from respective heads for visiting CADD would take days that would further prolong issues of employees, said another employee saying the respective heads would not allow them to visit CADD or approach higher authorities for their issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2018.