86 govt institutions sans permanent head

Cabinet Division seeks details of vacant posts, reasons for delay in appointment from ministries

ISLAMABAD:

The civil bureaucracy seems to have completely disregarded the governmental decision to fill the top positions vacant at various government departments and institutions as 86 such institutions are still operating on an ad hoc basis without a permanent head.

Documents show that 15 important departments working under the Ministry of Energy operate without a permanent head. Eleven institutions under the National Food Security and Research Division also function on an ad hoc basis without a permanent chief executive officer (CEO) or managing director (MD).

The other departments working without permanent CEOs or MDs include eight institutions under the Commerce Division; six institutions under the Ministry of Education; five institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education and four under the Petroleum Division.

Four institutions under the Planning Division and four institutions under the Housing and Works Divisions are also operating sans permanent heads.

Three institutions each of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Industries and Product and the Ministry of National Heritage are also included in the category.

Similarly two institutions each of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Overseas Pakistanis Division, the Ministry of Information Technology, the Maritime Affairs Division, the Climate Change Division and the Ministry of Finance work without a permanent CEO/MD.

According to sources, Prime Minister Imran Khan recently expressed displeasure over the delay in appointing permanent heads of these institutions, noting that this delay affects efficiency of these departments and results in nepotism and corruption.

The premier asked the relevant officials to find out as to what are the hurdles to filling the vacant posts so that these issues could be resolved.

The sources said the Establishment Division has asked all the federal ministries to submit the details of the vacant positions along with the reasons for a delay in filling them. It has also asked the ministries to provide details about the CEOs/MDs retiring in the next three months.

The government has also decided to offer attractive packages – including high salaries and perks – to highly qualified and experienced professionals from all over the world. In this regard, it has decided in principle to introduce a special pay scale. Under the new policy, 26 COEs/MDs will be appointed.

According to the source, there is apparently no concrete reason for this delay in appointment to key positions and it can only be attributed to inefficiency of the bureaucracy.