You’re promoted for not meeting the criteria
ISLAMABAD:
Around 50 employees of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) were awarded out-of-turn promotions in 2008-2009. Documents obtained by The Express Tribune revealed that FDE promoted many employees who had not fulfilled their required qualification on the direction of Ministry of Education and the Establishment Division.
These under-qualified candidates were handed over the important posts of deputy director, admin officer, assistant incharge and administrative officers, to name a few.
Former Director General FDE Shahnaz Riaz, who was running the affairs when these promotions took place, agreed that the promoted individuals failed to meet the criteria set for the designations.
“I asked the committee not to recommend these employees for promotion, as they were ineligible to even apply,” she said. “This may be one of the reasons why I was dismissed from the service along with a few others by the high ups of the education ministry,” she added.
She also alleged that the FDE violated the criteria set by Pakistan Public Service Act when it promoted 15 non-teaching staff serving in the educational institutions in Islamabad on May 30, 2009.
The official document regarding the promotion of these candidates includes the name of four candidates who were promoted from upper division clerks to the post of assistant (BPS-14). None of these candidates held the academic qualification of a graduate, which was a pre-requisite for this post. The names of these individuals were Shafqat Javed, Sardar Muhammad, Afzal Khan and Sultan Muhammad.
An official of FED, on condition of anonymity, identified Muhammad Irfan, who was promoted as assistant director from admin officer and Hafiz Zahoor Elahi who became admin officer from a stenographer, as other ‘dubious’ promotions. “These cases were earlier rejected by Establishment Division over inability to meet the criteria for the posts, but somehow they managed to get promoted in the end,” he claimed. The official said that there were many more of such cases.
Meanwhile, the Director General FED Dr Shaheen Ali Khan, said, “These promotions should be cancelled as the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education has already recommended.”
“Some people are also in the courts to seek justice against these out-of-turn promotions. They are fighting a legal battle to get what they actually deserve,” she said.
Director Administration FDE Asif Niazi said the issue of these promotions was always on the priority list of the department and there was a pressing need to solve it. “The officials of FDE are always forced to ‘pick and chose’ with regards to promoting candidates, they are not allowed to act otherwise,” he said.
A senior official of Ministry of Education, Adeel Khan said the issue would be put up in the next meeting of NA Standing Committee on Education.
Published in The Express Triune, July 11th, 2010.
Around 50 employees of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) were awarded out-of-turn promotions in 2008-2009. Documents obtained by The Express Tribune revealed that FDE promoted many employees who had not fulfilled their required qualification on the direction of Ministry of Education and the Establishment Division.
These under-qualified candidates were handed over the important posts of deputy director, admin officer, assistant incharge and administrative officers, to name a few.
Former Director General FDE Shahnaz Riaz, who was running the affairs when these promotions took place, agreed that the promoted individuals failed to meet the criteria set for the designations.
“I asked the committee not to recommend these employees for promotion, as they were ineligible to even apply,” she said. “This may be one of the reasons why I was dismissed from the service along with a few others by the high ups of the education ministry,” she added.
She also alleged that the FDE violated the criteria set by Pakistan Public Service Act when it promoted 15 non-teaching staff serving in the educational institutions in Islamabad on May 30, 2009.
The official document regarding the promotion of these candidates includes the name of four candidates who were promoted from upper division clerks to the post of assistant (BPS-14). None of these candidates held the academic qualification of a graduate, which was a pre-requisite for this post. The names of these individuals were Shafqat Javed, Sardar Muhammad, Afzal Khan and Sultan Muhammad.
An official of FED, on condition of anonymity, identified Muhammad Irfan, who was promoted as assistant director from admin officer and Hafiz Zahoor Elahi who became admin officer from a stenographer, as other ‘dubious’ promotions. “These cases were earlier rejected by Establishment Division over inability to meet the criteria for the posts, but somehow they managed to get promoted in the end,” he claimed. The official said that there were many more of such cases.
Meanwhile, the Director General FED Dr Shaheen Ali Khan, said, “These promotions should be cancelled as the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education has already recommended.”
“Some people are also in the courts to seek justice against these out-of-turn promotions. They are fighting a legal battle to get what they actually deserve,” she said.
Director Administration FDE Asif Niazi said the issue of these promotions was always on the priority list of the department and there was a pressing need to solve it. “The officials of FDE are always forced to ‘pick and chose’ with regards to promoting candidates, they are not allowed to act otherwise,” he said.
A senior official of Ministry of Education, Adeel Khan said the issue would be put up in the next meeting of NA Standing Committee on Education.
Published in The Express Triune, July 11th, 2010.