Five REOs reverted to grade 18

Amid ongoing controversies regarding administrative affairs of the department, Director General Rescue 1122 Rizwan Naseer has posted five officials as district emergency officers (DEOs) in grade 18, two weeks after having appointed them as regional emergency officers (REOs) in grade 19.

The officers included Dr Abdul Sattar, Dr Mohammad Natiq Hayat, Dr Faisal Mehmood, Dr Mohammad Ashfraf and Dr Mohammad Azam.

In a notification issued on July 28, the DG had not only upgraded the officers to grade 19 from 18 but had appointed Dr Abdul Sattar as REO Bahawalpur, Dr Hayat as REO Sahiwal, Dr Mehmood as REO Sargodha, Dr Ashraf as REO Faisalabad and Dr Azam as REO Lahore.

He had reportedly issued the orders of new appointments without nullifying the previous ones.

The home department, the administrative department of Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122), had declared the orders of upgrading as well as appointment REOs as illegal and against the spirit of the rules of business.

In a letter to the finance department, the civil defence section of the home department had asserted that the orders issued regarding the promotion and posting of district and regional emergency officers were in total disregard to the administrative department. Under the Punjab Emergency Services Act, Rescue 1122 DG is the chief executive officer (CEO) and responsible for administrative affairs. The DG exercises powers as specified by the Punjab Emergency Council.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2020.