Civil servants face delay in promotions

Backlog of training coursework prevents bureaucrats from exceling in their profession

LAHORE:

With the country’s bureaucratic machinery already malfunctioning due to the current economic downslide, the perpetual delay in the promotion process of civil servants prevents significant improvements in the serving departments.

Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the regular planning and conduct of professional courses for civil servants and police officers had been greatly disturbed, leading to a delay in the promotion of bureaucrats ranging from Grades 14 to 21, with pending promotions from the ranks of Superintendent to Section Officer, Deputy Secretary to Additional Secretary and Additional Secretary to Secretary alongside promotion of police officers and over 500 employees from the prison department.

“In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of expedited professional courses since countless civil servants are awaiting promotion,” confirmed a spokesperson for the Management and Professional Development Department (MPDD).

According to sources, a major reason behind the delay in promotion for bureaucrats is the paucity of adequate training centers, with Punjab having only four schools and two colleges, apart from the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Staff College and MPDD, dedicated to the training of civil servants and police officers.

Since all of the training centers mandate officers to complete courses ranging from 15 days to 6 months in duration, in order to qualify for the desired promotion, the suspension of the few available courses due to Covid-19 created a backlog of coursework for officers enrolled in mid-career courses, short-term courses, police training courses and other programs.

To address this issue, the Punjab government had planned to conduct emergency courses to restart the promotion process for government officers. At the federal level, civil and police service officers were to be nominated twice a year for mid-career management and national management courses. Successful completion of these courses would make them eligible for promotion through the Central Selection Board.

In Punjab Police, 23 officers belonging to Grade 17, Grade 18, and Grade 19 were promoted to higher posts in Grade 18, Grade 19, Grade 20, and Grade 21. Similarly, in other departments, officers one or two grades junior were appointed under the One Pay and Grade (OPG) formula to positions such as Deputy Commissioners, Commissioners, Secretaries, and Additional Secretaries.

Speaking to the Express Tribune, Additional IG Training Punjab Police, Tariq Rustam Chauhan said, “Courses are being conducted in two training colleges and four training schools of Punjab Police in double shifts to facilitate the promotion of civil servants and the lists of officers and employees undergoing emergency training are being prepared accordingly.”

Similarly, Commandant Prison Institute Training, Mian Salik Jalal too confirmed that the Department of Prisons has become the sole training institute in the province for officer development. “Training courses for prison officers will be conducted soon with a temporary arrangement in place at the Police Training Center,” asserted Jalal.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2023.