Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Sunday approved a new transfer policy for the posting of officers of various government departments in Balochistan.
In compliance with the directions Premier Ashraf had issued during his recent visit to the province to devise a policy relating to the deployment of government officials in Balochistan, he gave a final nod to the establishment division after revising the official transfer policy of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), District Management Group (DMG) and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers.
According to and official statement released by the PM House, the new policy includes revised criteria which have been approved for the posting of all currently serving and future PAS, DMG and PSP officers to Balochistan.
According to the policy, those officers who are Balochistan domiciled and are serving outside Balochistan and have completed three years will be allowed to be posted back to their province of domicile. Those officers serving within, and who have never been posted outside their province of domicile, will be allowed to be posted outside.
The official statement reads: The officers who have remained posted in a province other than their domicile or in the federal government may be posted in Balochistan and those officers who have served outside their province of domicile and have never served in Balochistan may also be posted in Baluchistan.
In respect to the serving time of officers, the policy says that those officers, who have served in Balochistan but were transferred before completing three years, may be sent back to the province.
The prime minister has expressed the hope that the new transfer policy will strengthen the hands of the provincial government in selecting competent and able officers for appointment in the province and that it will further improve governance in the province.
While signing the revised policy into law, the premier said that the restoration of law and order and peace in Balochistan is one of the top priorities of his government.
“Uplift of Balochistan is my top priority and I will keep rendering my best efforts for this cause and the federal government will fully assist the provincial government in this regard,” said Premier Ashraf.
He also lauded the role of allies working for the stability of the province and assured stakeholders in the Balochistan issue that measures regarding the restoration of law and order are being taken to eliminate the sense of deprivation felt amongst the Baloch people.
Baloch nationalist Hasil Bizenjo, although appreciative of the prime minister’s efforts, expressed that the procedure should remain transparent and there should be a monitoring system in place to maintain checks and balances during recruitment and re-shuffling of bureaucracy.
“The measure is commendable but it should not face the fate of Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan which has apparently been implemented 100 % as claimed by the government, but merely 2 % on the ground,” Bizenjo added.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2012.
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