PM shields bureaucrats’ personal info

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan has declared personal information of civil bureaucracy “classified”, excluding it from the purview of Right of Access to Information Act 2017 after scores of officers sought their record fearing that some blue-eyed officers were promoted against their due right.

According to the official documents, the premier took the decision months after a meeting of the Central Selection Board (CSB) whose decisions created resentment among officers belonging to various service groups.

The Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs), Training Evaluation Reports (TERs), working papers and minutes of meetings of Departmental Promotion Committee, Departmental Selection Board, CSB, high-powered selection board, directory retirement committees and Directory Retirement Board have been declared “classified” by Premier Imran.

The Establishment Division had moved the summary for the approval of the prime minister after numbers of individuals contacted it and sought their service record.

“Public disclosure of the documents is against public interest,” the Establishment Division underlined.

According to the division –which is responsible for maintaining the service record, these documents contain information about civil servants’ personality profiles, conduct, strengths and weaknesses and are used by the boards and committees for promotion and retention in service on completion of 20 years of service.

The Establishment Division’s spokesperson did not comment for this article.

During the meetings of these boards and committees, members share their candid opinion about the performance of civil servants on the condition of non-attribution. These discussions and minutes are treated as confidential, according to the Establishment Division summary.

Public sharing of PERs and other such documents “will expose civil servants to negative social consequences and infringe their privacy, which as an individual is also protected under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017”, it added.

The prime minister has approved excluding the record of all these meetings and personal service information from the purview of the Right of Access to Information Act.

PM Imran himself has not held the high-powered board meeting for almost one-and-a-half-year to consider promotion of officers from Grade 21 to 22, which has created resentment among the top bureaucracy. However last month, he approved appointment of his secretary, Azam Khan, as Pakistan’s Executive Director in the World Bank by violating the rules.

The Establishment Division had been approached by individuals under the Right of Access to Information Act to provide his information. Pakistan Information Commission has also approached the Establishment Division for obtaining such information.

However, the sources said that the CSB in its last meeting promoted a few officers, including those from the Pakistan Customs, who were not eligible for the promotion. The aggrieved officers, who suffered because of promotion of blue-eyed people, have been using various forums to know the reason for either deferring their case or superseding them.

The brother of a key bureaucrat also got promoted to Grade 21 despite the fact that he did not have merit.

According to Civil Servants Promotion Rules 2019, the PERs of the officer and his marks in TERs carry 70% weightage and remaining 30% marks are assigned to the CSB.

The officers are assigned in A, B and C categories as per their blood count, which is the total marks obtained from 70 marks assigned to PERs and TERs as per the prescribed formula and on the basis of intelligence report and general reputation.

The officer was awarded 23 marks by placing him in category ‘A’ as to enable him to attain the threshold of 75 marks despite the fact that officer’s total scores in PERs and TERs was 52.4 and he had been subjected to multiple inquiries and disciplinary proceedings in the past. In the National Management Course, the officer had got only 66% marks.

The officer had been awarded a ‘major penalty’ which was later converted into ‘minor penalty’ in an inquiry. The minutes of the CSB showed that the officer had been twice deferred by the CSB, first in January 2020 and then in January 2021 due to “incomplete service record in terms of the mandatory training and declaration of assets”.

The board in its meeting had also noted the issue of the minor penalty but promoted him on the grounds that “the officer is reputed to have become more responsible after imposition of the minor penalty”.

It was not the only case as another officer from the Pakistan Customs got promoted due to his political connections. His service record showed that the officer was thrice superseded. The supersession of the officer awarded through CSB held in January 2018 was later on converted into deferment in pursuance of court orders. The officer was also awarded a minor penalty during his career.

Another officer from the Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service in a similar fashion was promoted to Grade 20, despite the fact that his PER was not even countersigned and he has also been subjected to multiple disciplinary proceedings but was a relative of another federal secretary.