Promotions impossible: As top rungs are usurped, career ladder collapses
In at least one government department, careers have no ladders.
An assistant purchase inspector recruited in the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Service Corporation (Passco) Ltd in 1980, still awaits promotion.
He’s not the only one. As many as 800 officials in the corporation are frustrated and confused as they have been denied promotions since 1995.
Part of the problem, sources say, is lateral hiring – the induction of retired officers from elsewhere to the top positions in the organisation – against the promotion of eligible officials from within the organisation’s ranks.
The organisation has no proper service structure, and taking advantage of this deficiency, the top management inducts retired personnel on prime slots, said officials from Passco, on condition of anonymity.
Organisational structure
Passco was established in 1973 for procurement of wheat and other agriculture commodities, if required. Registered as a public limited company, Passco commenced its operations in May 1974.
The organisation was also meant to maintain strategic reserves, help implement support price for wheat, paddy, gram and any other specified agricultural commodity, and store wheat and release it to deficit provinces, regions and defence forces.
The organisation has two cadres – officials, who may be promoted up to deputy project manager in BPS-17, and officer class, ranging from grade 16 to 20.
The corporation recruits on posts of field staff, such as assistant purchase inspectors, who are eligible to be promoted to purchase inspectors within five years, and purchase officers in other five years.
Passco has 11 zones across the country, each headed by a project manager/deputy general manager. The total strength of corporation in 2010 was 1,250 personnel, including 941 subordinate staff and 309 officers.
Of the six posts of general managers in BPS-20, three were occupied by retired officers through lateral hiring, one through promotion from within the organisation, and two were vacant.
As many as a dozen retired army officers were working in organisation on top slots, hindering the promotion of eligible officers from within the corporation.
Ban on promotions
In 1995, however, the then-ministry of food, agriculture and livestock banned all promotions and retired army officers were inducted as project managers, deputy general managers and general managers in grades 18, 19 and 20 on a regular basis to supervise administrative affairs of the corporation.
The recruitment of retired army personnel restricted the career ladder for officials who were deputy project managers in grade 17. The bar on promotion caused financial loss, and a loss of morale within the organisation, officials said.
Some officials, who were purchase inspectors in 1980, were promoted to purchase officers in 2009-10, after 30 year of service, while according to the promotion policy, they should have been promoted after seven years of service.
New policy
Passco issued a new promotion policy in 2011, banning promotion of all officials who are under the graduate level of studies.
The organisation has also adopted a dubious recruitment process, disgruntled officials said, that attempts to avoid public disclosure of vacancies. This helps higher officials appoint favoured candidates as number of applicants for a vacancy is low, officials added.
General Manager Human Resource Passco Raja Muhammad Younis said the promotion policy was approved by the board of directors of the organisation. Younis refused to comment on the issue when he was informed about the discrepancies in promotions and recruitment process. edited by gulraiz khan
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2012.
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