An unacceptable formula: K-P bureaucrats threaten to go on strike ahead of LG polls

Pakistan Administrative Services officers say they are being victimised by federal officials .

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government may face trouble conducting the local government polls and preparing next year’s fiscal budget as Provincial Management Services (PMS) officers are threatening to go on strike.

Sources among PMS officers told The Express Tribune they would boycott duties if their demands for a revised appointment formula and an end to their “victimisation” are not met. “The provincial government will be responsible for the impact of the strike on elections and the budget,” said a PMS officer, requesting anonymity.

Last week, around 400 PMS officers gathered at a local hotel in Peshawar to discuss ways to put pressure on the K-P government. A strike was one of the options considered during the moot.

Tug-of-war

PMS officials have recently upped the ante against their federal counterparts, the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS), over the distribution of posts in the province. In K-P, the total number of PMS officers occupying different positions from grades 17 to 21 is at least 600. The demands of PMS officers are to remove the PAS officers from the provincial bureaucracy as they consider their presence a violation of the Constitution, particularly the 18th Amendment. The provincial civil servants claim that PAS officers—who are holding the top seats in the provincial bureaucratic hierarchy—are not only taking their share of posts but also making discriminatory decisions. These decisions are undermining PMS officers and limiting them to the secretariat apart from also delaying their promotions, they said.

Apportionment formula

Provincial officials have certain objections over the seat distribution quota between PMS and PAS officials. Under the current formula, PMS has a 75% share in Grade-17 posts while PAS has 25%. However, as the grades increase, the share of PMS officers dwindles. For example, PAS officers occupy 65% of the seats in Grade-21.

Fahad Ikram Qazi, a PMS officer, said the formula violates Article 240-b of the Constitution which states that the provincial assembly is the custodian of the Provincial Civil Service. Qazi added that in 1993, an interim federal government made the apportionment formula and only PAS officers were taken into confidence during deliberations.

Promotions

“Our promotion is at the mercy of PAS officers and luck,” said an officer. “I am not sure whether I will be promoted in the next 10 years or not because these decisions are taken by PAS officers and cannot even be changed by the chief minister.”

“Promotions are delayed even if there is a vacant seat,” said a Grade-17 officer. He added the PAS officers who are running various departments including finance, establishment, revenue, health and education are using different tactics to undermine the PMS.



He said the top bureaucracy has moved a summary which further curtails PMS officers between grades 17 and 21, recommends one year in-service training and limits them to the secretariat.

The issue was raised on the K-P Assembly floor and on Tuesday, the speaker formed a committee under the chairmanship of MPA Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli to sort out the status of PAS Officers.

When asked about the grievances of PMS officers, K-P Establishment Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazir said that the provincial selection board has approved the promotion of 24 provincial officers from grade 17 to 18 during a meeting on Wednesday.

He denied any tension between the two groups, saying the issue has been resolved. “The notification of the officers’ promotion will be issued in the next four or five days after the necessary paperwork,” said Nazir. He underlined that the appointment formula not only applied to K-P, but the rest of the provinces as well.

“Out of the total seven commissioners in the province, six of them are PMS officers,” he said while refuting allegations of discrimination.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2015.