Frictions in civil services: PM Ashraf approves summary proposing cut in promotions

Move likely to hinder promotions of officers serving in BPS-20 particularly in Secretariat Group.

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has approved a summary which seeks slashing quota of the Secretariat Group — a move which is likely to increase friction among several occupational groups in the country’s top bureaucracy.

The step – which appears to have been taken in haste – will hinder the promotions of officers who are serving in BPS-20, particularly in the Secretariat Group, according to former bureaucrats.

Officials familiar with the development told The Express Tribune on Monday that the approved summary proposes slashing of BPS-21 posts and senior joint secretary (SJS) posts from 2/3 quota to 1/3 quota.

“The pretext given is that Secretariat Group officials are generally promoted faster while those from other groups take longer the move up the ladder. Therefore, the posts of the SJS created for the Secretariat Group, to clear their backlog of already-blocked promotions, may be given to the District Management Group (DMG) and other groups which have their own promotion channels,” said a senior official of the Cabinet Division, quoting the context of the summary. Establishment Division Secretary Timur Azmat Usman got the summary approved from the prime minister last week, he added.



The official added that promotions to SJS were the sole prerogative of the Secretariat Group. Initially, the posts were upgraded in 1996 as there was a huge promotion backlog — the up-gradation/promotion was meant to clear the backlog, they explained. However, a senior bureaucrat added that it was not particularly accurate to say that that the group was fast moving in promotions as most officials have already completed 22 years service in BPS-20 and below. Therefore, they are eligible to be promoted to BPS-21, he argued.

According to sources, the adverse decision for the Secretariat Group was taken on the summary from the DMG, which includes 50% of the five vacant additional secretary posts in the Federal Secretariat. These decisions are earmarked for promotion of BPS-20 Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers as additional secretaries without mentioning the fate of the remaining 50% of the vacant posts despite the fact that these posts are borne on the cadre of the Secretariat Group and not the DMG.



“If posts become available in BPS-21 or 22 which are in the Federal Secretariat or in the provincial governments, they should be equally distributed on merit among various cadres. The best officers should be given promotion irrespective of their original service group. There should not be any quota-based promotions. They must all be on merit,” said Saleem Asghar Mian, a Central Superior Services (CSS) officer who retired as the chairman of the Monopoly Control Authority.

Spokesperson for Establishment Division Aftab Jamal neither denied nor confirmed this development saying, “My office is yet to get information regarding this matter.”

He, however, referred the matter to Joint Secretary Akhtar Nazir, who according to Jamal was dealing with the matter. Nazir, however, refused to explain the matter and referred the case to another senior officer who was not available to comment.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Shafqat Jalil, when contacted, told The Express Tribune that he will be able to explain the issue on Tuesday (today) as he was out of city at that moment.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2013.