Callous appointment of officers has long been a bane for the local public sector. Various designations and offices handed without proper merit, for various reasons, to various officials, is said to have resulted in a degradation of government operations, the brunt of which is often faced by the general public.
The most recent example of this comes from the centre, which has filled thirteen grade-22 posts within the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), with officers of grade-19 and grade-20 under its pick-and-choose policy. Owing to these ad hoc placements, which have become a common occurrence in government offices, the promotion of police officers in lower ranks has been stuck for a long time.
Per sources privy to the department’s inner-workings, there are currently 13 PSP posts in the country including Inspector General (IG) Punjab, IG Sindh, IG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, IG Balochistan, IG Azad Kashmir, IG Railways and IG National Highway and Motorway Police, heads of National Police Academy and Police Bureau, Secretary Narcotics, DG Intelligence Bureau, DG National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and IG Frontier Constabulary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Out of these 13 posts, five posts have become vacant following the retirement of officers this year. In addition to one previously vacant post, a total of six PSP posts have been filled by officers of grade-21 and grade-20. Among them are IG Punjab Police, IG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, IG Balochistan, IG Railway Police, IG Frontier Constabulary (FC) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and IG Azad Kashmir.
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Azad Kashmir IG Sohail Habib Tajik is a grade-20 officer entitled for the post of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) but has been posted beyond his capacity to a grade-22 position. Similarly, IG Gilgit-Baltistan Saeed Wazir is also a grade-20 DIG rank officer sitting on a higher post. The grade-21 post of IG Islamabad is held by Qazi Jameelur Rehman, a grade-20 DIG rank officer. Likewise, Akbar Hussain Durrani, a grade-22 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), has been posted as Secretary Narcotics Control Division, entitled for a grade-22 PSP officer.
Similarly, official records reveal that there are a total of 53 grade-21 PSP posts across the country. Many of which are also awarded to lower grade officers. Addressing the situation, federal secretary Afzal Latif said that promotion of police officers from grade 20 to grade 21 is expected this month. According to Latif, five to six PSP officers will be promoted to grade-22 by next month. “That being said, it is at the discretion of the government to appoint any officer it deems fit to the post of grade-22,” he asserted.
Speaking further, Latif confirmed that decisions like such are not entirely unprecedented within the government. In the past as well, there have been various cases of grade-21 officers being posted on grade-22 posts, and eventually being given the said grade-22 post.
As per the federal secretary, IG Punjab is expected to be promoted to grade-22 soon, while rest of the lower rank officers who are have assumed grade-22 posts, are also due for merited promotions, for which a meeting of the Central Selection Board has also been convened. “The promotion in grade-22 is at the discretion of the Prime Minister for which the Establishment Division briefs the Prime Minister on the complete record of the officer, his appointment and other matters,” he told The Express Tribune, while explaining the process.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2021.
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