DMGA postpones annual elections

LAHORE: The annual elections of the District Management Group Officers’ Association have been postponed after the chief secretary (CS) refused the use of government premises for this purpose.

The office of the DMG association (DMGA), which was shifted to the Punjab Civil Officer’s Mess (P.Com) in July 2009, was also vacated after Nasir Mehmood Khosa noted that the mess was not meant to house offices, it is learnt. Khosa said that P.Com was supposed to be a space for providing recreational facilities to the officers serving in the province.

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the steps had been taken to avoid any additional criticism by the Provincial Management Service (PMS) Association.

At the CS’s observation, the DMGA postponed its elections, scheduled for July 24, without fixing a new date. Last year the association had held its elections at the P.Com in May 2009 and this year’s elections were scheduled in May. There was a delay because of the controversy within the civil services (DMG and PMS) over administrative issues, the official said.

The executive committee of the association is expected to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday to decide the next date for the elections, said the general secretary Socrat Aman Rana. The committee will also decide where the secretariat of the association should now be established.

When asked about the closure of the association’s office, Rana said that the decision was taken by the competent authority. He added that the association had been regular in paying rent for using the premises.

An official of the PMS Officers’ Association said that the CS’s refusal was a “major set back to the DMG, after the acceptance of the demands of PMS officers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2010.