Top bureaucrats waiting for positions

Bureaucrats awaiting postings for months even though 29 seats in various ministries are lying vacant.

ISLAMABAD: Five top bureaucrats are waiting for their postings for months even though some 29 seats in various ministries are lying vacant, official documents prepared by the Establishment Division show.

“There is hardly any effort on part of the government to utilise the expertise of these top officers and dozens of bureaucrats are already dumped into an ineffective pool of Officers on Special Duty (OSDs),” said a senior secretary on condition of anonymity.

Some former and serving bureaucrats said many experienced officials have been working as OSDs for years, a position often thought of as ‘punishment’.

According to documents seen by The Express Tribune, Kamran Lashari, recently appointed as Chief Secretary Sindh but later removed, has been waiting for a posting since September 9. He was working in District Management Group in BS-22 and will reach his superannuation by the end of 2012.

Syed Javid Ali Shah, who was working as Inspector General of Police in Balochistan, has also been waiting for a posting since July this year. He was recently promoted by the PM from BS-21 to BS-22.

Similarly, another BS-22 officer Muhammad Javed Iqbal is waiting for his posting since October.

Rana Altaf Majid, from the police service who works in BS-20, has not been given a position since August 23. He will be attaining superannuation on August 8.

Muhammad Ramzan Javaid of Secretariat Group/BS 20 is also waiting for a posting since July and will complete his service tenure by 2012. His name was also considered for promotion into the next scale by Establishment Division (ED) last month.

The documents also show that a dozen seats of additional and joint secretaries are vacant in various ministries.

Meanwhile, sources in the Establishment Department said that among 21 OSDs, seven will appear before courts on charges of alleged misuse of authority. Some three out of five bureaucrats waiting for their posting are facing departmental inquiries, they added.

A spokesperson for the Establishment Division said the majority of people not posted are facing departmental inquiries and will be given an assignment as soon as the inquiry is completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2010.