Futile wait: Senior engineers upset as dept chooses others for promotion
90 assistant engineers recommended, secretary denies.
90 assistant engineers recommended, secretary denies. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Instead of removing the employees working on deputation in the irrigation department, the provincial government has promoted them to senior positions.
This violation of rules has created resentment among most senior officers who had been waiting to hear good news about their promotion for the last 20 years.
Sources in the irrigation department told The Express Tribune that a list of 90 assistant engineers of grade-17, a majority of whom are junior officers, has been finalised for the post of executive engineers in grade-18, despite the court orders against such promotions.
"The court has clearly given orders to the government to remove all officials on deputation and own pay scale (OPS) by transferring them to their parent departments but this never happened in our department," complained a senior official in the irrigation department, requesting not to be named.
A few engineers of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) were appointed on deputation in the irrigation department some time ago, he pointed out. Despite taking action against them the government has put their name on the seniority list, recommending them for the next grade, he added.
"Some influential officials, who were initially appointed as sub-engineers in grade-16 a few years ago, have already succeeded in getting the promotion to the next grade during the last government's tenure," he said.
"Once again another promotion is being given to the same people within a short span of time by ignoring the deserving officers," said one of the assistant engineers, who claimed he has been waiting for a promotion to an executive engineer for the last 15 years. "We have moved an application to the chief secretary who has also ordered to include the name of senior officials in the list but all in vain," another senior engineer said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2014.
Instead of removing the employees working on deputation in the irrigation department, the provincial government has promoted them to senior positions.
This violation of rules has created resentment among most senior officers who had been waiting to hear good news about their promotion for the last 20 years.
Sources in the irrigation department told The Express Tribune that a list of 90 assistant engineers of grade-17, a majority of whom are junior officers, has been finalised for the post of executive engineers in grade-18, despite the court orders against such promotions.
"The court has clearly given orders to the government to remove all officials on deputation and own pay scale (OPS) by transferring them to their parent departments but this never happened in our department," complained a senior official in the irrigation department, requesting not to be named.
A few engineers of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) were appointed on deputation in the irrigation department some time ago, he pointed out. Despite taking action against them the government has put their name on the seniority list, recommending them for the next grade, he added.
"Some influential officials, who were initially appointed as sub-engineers in grade-16 a few years ago, have already succeeded in getting the promotion to the next grade during the last government's tenure," he said.
"Once again another promotion is being given to the same people within a short span of time by ignoring the deserving officers," said one of the assistant engineers, who claimed he has been waiting for a promotion to an executive engineer for the last 15 years. "We have moved an application to the chief secretary who has also ordered to include the name of senior officials in the list but all in vain," another senior engineer said.
The department secretary has the authority to recommend names to the departmental promotion committee. But when he spoke to The Express Tribune, irrigation secretary Babar Effendi refuted the allegations that officers were being promoted against the rules. "We normally recommend the employees for promotion on merit but the final decision is made by the departmental promotion committees headed by the chief secretary," he said. None of the officers in the irrigation department are on deputation or OPS, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2014.