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CJs suo moto delivers justice, even before actual hearing
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23253
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
By Ikram Hoti
ISLAMABAD: How the all powerful District Management Group (DMG) bureaucracy fears Chief Justice Ch Iftikhar became evident on Monday when the Punjab chief secretary held an emergency session of Provincial Selection Board and announced promotions of the 65 PCS officials, hitherto ignored for decades. This announcement made history, and it was made to stall the feared wrath of the chief justice, who, taking a suo moto notice of the officers misery, had set July 15 as the date for the production of records on the plight of PCS Punjab officers, whose promotions have been stalled for years on account of machinations of the DMG Group officials.
One official was promoted to grade 21, 14 to grade 20, and 50 to grade 19 (the latter awaiting for the promotion for an unbelievable period of 22 years). The chief justice took suo moto action on June 23 on a report carried by The News and July 15 was set as the date for filing of comments by the four provincial chief secretaries and federal secretary establishment.
The PCS officials pleaded that the DMG Group has seats in the provinces under the 1993 formula that allows them to take the largest chunk of seats in grades 21, 20, 19, 18 and 17, which puts the pyramid of the bureaucracy upside down.
A copy of the 1993 Formula was acquired by PCS officials only in 1998 as it was previously kept confidential since 1993, to keep the PCS officials ignorant of their rights and to deprive them of their right to promotion.
They were bringing to the notice of the chief justice that the provincial selection board is not convened even when the seats are vacant and officials are required to be posted from the PCS. These seats could be filled in only after the PCS officials are promoted. This has been an agonizing practice for the PCS officials for the past five decades.
There has been no training of officials for qualifying to be promoted continually for the past five years. The training is ridiculously poor but mandatory, as the officials are coached in the rudimentary software only, which should be imparted to PAs and not to officials of this level.
To ensure that promotion of these officials does not take place at all, another obstacle has been inserted into the rules in 2004 to make it mandatory that service in each grade should be minimum 4-5 years. This way, even the most eligible could not avail promotion.
The DMG officials have occupied all the key posts of the government of the Punjab like chief secretary, additional CS, secretary to CM, secretary to governor, provincial secretaries, commissioners to the lower and insignificant post of a DDO Revenue (head of revenue department at a tehsil).
Posting of the DMG in the provinces is against the constitution and provincial autonomy also, as well-qualified officers of the province are there and there is no need of the DMG in the provinces. By getting posting in a province, they are usurping the rights of the provincial officers as they get their promotions against the seats of provincial civil service officers.
The DMG has been increasing their seats in Punjab through notifications. Case of PCS executive was taken up by many forums and all of those admitted that a great injustice was being done with the PCS and gave favourable recommendations which were never implemented by the mighty DMG.
During Ziaul Haq regime, for instance, a committee was constituted by the Provincial Selection Board under the chairmanship of Punjab additional chief secretary with 5 members who unanimously submitted to the Punjab martial law administrator that, It was agreed that 50% posts in grade 19 and above borne on the ex-CSP cadre in the Punjab should be reserved for the ex-PCS Group.
Although, this formula was not just because CSP/DMG could not be posted in the Punjab, even then, this formula too was never implemented. In 1986, a number of MPAs tabled questions in the Punjab Assembly regarding the miseries of PCS officers. Consequently, the then CM Punjab Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif constituted a high-powered committee of the Punjab Assembly comprising of 11-MPAs. This committee listened to all the stakeholders, including PCS Executive, PCS Secretariat, DMG, Law Department etc, and finally published a report in the form of a book (copy enclosed).
In this report, the committee unanimously agreed that: disparity between ex-PCS of the 4-provinces: In Balochistan the CS is an ex-PCS officer whereas the chances of promotion of PCS officers beyond grade 20 are almost non-existent in Punjab.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23253
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
By Ikram Hoti
ISLAMABAD: How the all powerful District Management Group (DMG) bureaucracy fears Chief Justice Ch Iftikhar became evident on Monday when the Punjab chief secretary held an emergency session of Provincial Selection Board and announced promotions of the 65 PCS officials, hitherto ignored for decades. This announcement made history, and it was made to stall the feared wrath of the chief justice, who, taking a suo moto notice of the officers misery, had set July 15 as the date for the production of records on the plight of PCS Punjab officers, whose promotions have been stalled for years on account of machinations of the DMG Group officials.
One official was promoted to grade 21, 14 to grade 20, and 50 to grade 19 (the latter awaiting for the promotion for an unbelievable period of 22 years). The chief justice took suo moto action on June 23 on a report carried by The News and July 15 was set as the date for filing of comments by the four provincial chief secretaries and federal secretary establishment.
The PCS officials pleaded that the DMG Group has seats in the provinces under the 1993 formula that allows them to take the largest chunk of seats in grades 21, 20, 19, 18 and 17, which puts the pyramid of the bureaucracy upside down.
A copy of the 1993 Formula was acquired by PCS officials only in 1998 as it was previously kept confidential since 1993, to keep the PCS officials ignorant of their rights and to deprive them of their right to promotion.
They were bringing to the notice of the chief justice that the provincial selection board is not convened even when the seats are vacant and officials are required to be posted from the PCS. These seats could be filled in only after the PCS officials are promoted. This has been an agonizing practice for the PCS officials for the past five decades.
There has been no training of officials for qualifying to be promoted continually for the past five years. The training is ridiculously poor but mandatory, as the officials are coached in the rudimentary software only, which should be imparted to PAs and not to officials of this level.
To ensure that promotion of these officials does not take place at all, another obstacle has been inserted into the rules in 2004 to make it mandatory that service in each grade should be minimum 4-5 years. This way, even the most eligible could not avail promotion.
The DMG officials have occupied all the key posts of the government of the Punjab like chief secretary, additional CS, secretary to CM, secretary to governor, provincial secretaries, commissioners to the lower and insignificant post of a DDO Revenue (head of revenue department at a tehsil).
Posting of the DMG in the provinces is against the constitution and provincial autonomy also, as well-qualified officers of the province are there and there is no need of the DMG in the provinces. By getting posting in a province, they are usurping the rights of the provincial officers as they get their promotions against the seats of provincial civil service officers.
The DMG has been increasing their seats in Punjab through notifications. Case of PCS executive was taken up by many forums and all of those admitted that a great injustice was being done with the PCS and gave favourable recommendations which were never implemented by the mighty DMG.
During Ziaul Haq regime, for instance, a committee was constituted by the Provincial Selection Board under the chairmanship of Punjab additional chief secretary with 5 members who unanimously submitted to the Punjab martial law administrator that, It was agreed that 50% posts in grade 19 and above borne on the ex-CSP cadre in the Punjab should be reserved for the ex-PCS Group.
Although, this formula was not just because CSP/DMG could not be posted in the Punjab, even then, this formula too was never implemented. In 1986, a number of MPAs tabled questions in the Punjab Assembly regarding the miseries of PCS officers. Consequently, the then CM Punjab Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif constituted a high-powered committee of the Punjab Assembly comprising of 11-MPAs. This committee listened to all the stakeholders, including PCS Executive, PCS Secretariat, DMG, Law Department etc, and finally published a report in the form of a book (copy enclosed).
In this report, the committee unanimously agreed that: disparity between ex-PCS of the 4-provinces: In Balochistan the CS is an ex-PCS officer whereas the chances of promotion of PCS officers beyond grade 20 are almost non-existent in Punjab.
