Time is up for babus on deputation

Irked provincial officers urge the administration to repatriate civil servants who have spent decades in Punjab

LAHORE:

Punjab has long been a paradise for civil servants -- colloquially known as ‘babus’ – but that is about to change. The provincial administration is mulling over the idea to repatriate officers to the federal government, who have been stationed in Punjab for several years.

The decision comes amidst pressure from the officers of the Provincial Management Service (PMS) and other bureaucrats. PMS Officers have been demanding the surrender of deputed officers and the Services and General Administration (S&GAD) Department has taken notice and has forwarded the cases of these officers to the chief secretary.

For instance, an officer from the Office Management Group, Haider Ali, who has been in Punjab since 2015, has received his third extension. Similarly, other officers have been stationed in Punjab for decades and it is not known when the federal government will repatriate them to another province. According to insiders who are familiar with the matter, the federal government is looking into the matter but so far, no concrete work has come to light.

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Senior sources confirmed that the S&GAD Punjab has sent a summary of repatriation of officers on deputation to the chief minister several times, but the deputed officers use their influence to have the summary dumped and do not allow it to be implemented. Interestingly, the courts have also ordered that the officers posted on these deputations be sent back but these officers continue to serve in Punjab due to their personal influence.

Commenting on the issue, a former bureaucrat urged the Buzdar administration to immediately send all deputed officers back to their ministries and replace them with Punjab PMS Officers so that the PMS Officers can get their due and merit can be enforced.

When asked about the situation, Chief Secretary Punjab Jawad Rafique Malik said that the officers have been posted as per the policy. He said that they have started working on the officers who came on deputation of other services and whoever was posted contrary to the deputation policy will be surrendered. To a question regarding deputed officers being in Punjab for years, Malik said: “ Most officers have come in accordance with the rules and if anyone goes against the rules, they will be sent back to the federation.”

On the issue of PMS Officers not being posted as per quotas assigned, PMS Association President Naveed Shehzad Mirza said that we stand for the right of our posts. “Many of our officers have issues regarding posting and not being promoted in time. To resolve this, we have knocked on every door available and continue to wait for justice,” he told the Express Tribune.

In 2017, the provincial administration had limited the period of deputation to three years. However, in most cases, the rule has not been followed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2021.