Govt to appoint PMS, PAS officers in food dept

The decision is taken to overcome the ongoing wheat and flour crisis on an urgent basis

LAHORE:

The chief minister and chief secretary of Punjab have decided to appoint a large number of Provincial Management Service (PMS) and Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers to the posts of deputy director in the food department to overcome the ongoing wheat and flour crisis.

According to sources, if hiring more staffers turns out to be successful, a final decision will be taken in the second phase of the project to appoint officers of the provincial management services to the posts of district food controllers.

At present, out of 12 posts fo deputy director in the food department, 11 are filled by food department officers. The 12th position is held by a provincial service officer.

According to the departmental rules, departmental cadre can be appointed for seven posts while officers of other services can be appointed for five posts. However, four years ago, a chief secretary issued a notification without amending the departmental rules and appointed an equal number of people from the departmental cadre as well as from other services.

In 2000, there was an attempt to deploy officers of other services in the food department, but the plan ended up in a fiasco. Per sources, the chances of the success of the new experiment are also very less as the current wheat and flour crisis is likely to reach its peak in the next few weeks. Under such circumstances, it will be difficult for the new officers to overcome the crisis due to their lack of experience in the field.

Details revealed by the sources show that at present, the total number of posts for deputy director in the food department is 13 out of which one is for the deputy director of the budget, which should be reserved for an officer of the finance department. In addition to the nine posts for divisional deputy directors, there are 12 posts for deputy director (general), deputy director (admin) and deputy director (purchase). Under the departmental rules of business, seven officers from the departmental cadre and five officers from other services can be deployed on the posts.

Over the last few days, two officers of the Pakistan Administrative Service and four officers of the Provincial Management Service have been brought on deputation in the food department. They include Omar Iftikhar Shirazi, Waqar Hussain, Mohammad Tayyab, Zariab Sajid, Shakeel Bhatti and Mohammad Arshad.

According to sources, currently, there are six regular deputy directors of Grade 18 in the food department, including Muhammad Hussain Khokhar, Chaudhry Ajmal, Shahida Yasmeen, Anjum Sardar, Amir Burmani, and Zahid Qaiser.

Sources added that officers coming on deputation will be given postings involving fieldwork, while a large number of assistant directors will be appointed by the food directorate and food secretariat or they will be re-posted as assistant directors in the divisional headquarters.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2020.