Economist Group: Dejected highly-qualified officers leave govt service

See bleak chances of career growth, get no support from seniors.

ISLAMABAD: The recent appointment of a relatively junior man as the chief economist of Pakistan has once again exposed vulnerabilities of the Economist Group, which is now struggling for its survival.

The young and highly qualified officers of the Economist Group have started leaving government service after getting disappointed. The reason to stop competing for a much sought-after job is not the appointment of the chief economist. It is, in fact, the attitude of seniors who are not ready to stand up against discrimination and the bleak chances of career progress that have discouraged them.

It took the government 22 years to promote an officer of the group to grade-18 from grade-17. The officer is currently serving in the Ministry of Commerce. Recently, at least three officers of the group have left the job. All of them were Doctors of Philosophy (PhDs) from reputed foreign universities. Dr Sabir Afridi did PhD from The Netherlands, Dr Kukab Naqi was a PhD from Japan and Dr Imran Jadoon completed his doctorate from Turkey.

Some of them have pursued other careers, like teaching in a university, and are content with their jobs.

They were either at the bottom of the seniority list and did not have the chance to reach the top or their skills were not properly utilised by the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform.

The Economist Group is not like other service groups such as the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS), where the interests of people are given consideration by those sitting at the helm. The group also could not do anything when the government appointed a PAS officer on a grade-21 post, which is allocated to the Economist Group.

If one compares the Economist Group with any other service group, it does not look like a group, says Rai Nasir Ali Khan, a grade-20 officer of the group, who is currently serving as an economic consultant in the Ministry of Commerce. He is of the view that it will become a united body the day somebody sitting at the top starts making sacrifices for its cause.

The group could not do anything when the government decided to appoint a person from the private sector to fill the lone grade-22 post. Historically, the chief economist position is a grade-22 position for the Economist Group of civil servants.

The Economist Group protested with the government in August last year. Representation was given to Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal and Secretary Planning Hasan Nawaz Tarar. The government just turned its face as it knew that the group was so marginalised and weakened that it would not dare go to court – and it was correct in its assessment.

Senior officers of the group threatened to go to court against the injustice but could not do so, fearing reaction from the government. Civil servants belonging to other groups, particularly PAS, often go to court if their rights are violated.

Violation of rules

While lodging its protest, the group was of the view that the advertisement for hiring the chief economist was in violation of recruitment rules of the Economist Group notified in December 1984 and amended in 2011.

According to the rules, “The post of chief economist of basic pay scale 22 and all posts in pay scale 21, including posts of joint chief economist, economic adviser (BS-21) shall be filled by promotion.”

The group demanded that the government appoint a senior officer of the group as chief economist instead of hiring someone from outside or the private sector.

In the past one year, the government has made many moves where merit-based system was completely ignored in a bid to either appoint cronies on key posts or bring in professionally weak individuals who could not take a stand against the rulers. In case of the chief economist, the government probably did not have any other option but to bring a professional from outside, as after years of neglect the group’s officers had started losing interest in their work. But still the choice for the chief economist was questionable.

The ignorance of the Economist Group by successive governments has weakened economic decision-making. The government’s reliance on short-term goals has also become a reason for neglecting the group.

The group’s career planning is done by the secretary planning – a job that is performed by the Establishment Division in case of other service groups. There is a need to restructure the group that will eventually benefit economic decision-making, or like India, Pakistan may have to wind up the Planning Commission if the deterioration continues.

THE WRITER IS A STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.