Anwer Hussain Sumra, an investigative journalist
LAHORE (Anwer Hussain Sumra) The Punjab government has appointed 180 lower-grade officers, including the Chief Secretary, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Lahore on higher grades. Furthermore, in the province’s civil administration, many Additional Deputy Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Regional Commissioners, Additional Secretaries, and Directors are posted in the higher grades despite being junior officers. Punjab Civil Servants Amendment Ordinance 2023 has been issued to provide legal protection to the appointment of Provincial Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Additional Chief Secretaries in their own pay and scale. Earlier, On August 9, the Lahore High Court ordered that all the OPS appointments be reversed within a month by declaring them as a violation of the Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974 and the Punjab Civil Servants Rules.
Out of these junior officers, 20 officers are posted as Deputy Commissioners in different districts. According to the rules, the eligibility for appointment to the post of Deputy Commissioner is Grade 19 and 20, while Grade 19 officers are appointed to Grade 20 and Grade 18 officers are appointed to the post of Grade 19 in their own pay and scale.
According to the investigation and documents of Republic policy, the Punjab Civil Servants Act 1974 provides for the appointment of provincial Assistant Commissioners to Commissioners and Section Officers to Provincial Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries and others to all civil and administrative seats to run the governance and revenue matters in the province of Punjab. According to this Act and derived Rules, no civil servant can be appointed to any seat in a higher grade under their own pay and scale policy. Any junior officer can be given acting charge of a senior post for up to three months, but this also falls under the category of impaired governance. According to the documents, 22 officers of grade 17 have been appointed in critical administrative positions under their own pay and scale policy in grade 18, while 102 officers of grade 18 have been appointed in grade 19 as Deputy Commissioners, Additional Secretaries and Director Generals in various districts and departments. Forty-three officers of Grade 19 have been appointed to the most important posts of Grade 20, including Deputy Commissioners, Commissioners, Director Generals and Provincial Secretaries. Under this OPS policy, 16 officers of Grade 20 have been appointed to the most important posts of Grade 21.
Out of these approved officers, 57 officers belong to the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), while 123 officers belong to the Provincial Management Service (PMS). One belongs to the Police Service, while three belong to the Office Management Group. The Chief Secretary of Punjab is also of grade 21 and the post of grade 22, while the post of Commissioner Lahore is of grade 21 and, the officer is of grade 20, and the DC of Lahore is of post grade 20 on which a woman of grade 19 is appointed.
The Punjab Government has notified the Punjab Civil Servants (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 on September 8, 2023, under which section 9 of the erstwhile Act 1974 has been amended, that the Punjab Government will have the right to appoint any junior officer to the higher post. This amended ordinance has created a legal justification for appointing junior officers to higher administrative positions. It means the amendment in the ordinance has tried to defeat the orders of the High Court. An official of the Punjab government said that the caretaker government cannot legislate because it is not its mandate as per the constitution, and the amendment falls under the category of contempt of court. Furthermore, issuing an ordinance for three months is legislative support that can only be done if the assembly is not in session. However, now the assembly has ceased to exist, and the caretaker government can not notify the ordinance.
A senior official of the Department of Services and General Administration said that a large number of officers posted in the province have passed the necessary courses for promotion to the next grade for a long time, but the Provincial Selection Boards headed by the Chief Secretary Punjab or the Additional Chief Secretary Punjab has been delayed due to various reasons, the meetings of promotion boards are not being held on time due to which these officers are deprived of promotion to the required grade. He further said that the policy of On Pay and Scale was introduced during the tenure of former Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint junior officers on higher grades, which resulted in poor governance and nepotism. At the same time, this policy is not supported by any laws and rules. He said that now, some officers who have the blessings of the political elite or senior bureaucrats can get appointed to the critical posts of the higher grade being in, the lower grade and enjoy the use of resources and powers. The affected officers said that if the meetings of the boards continue to be held on time, the Punjab government will not need to appoint junior officers to senior positions and issue ordinances for their appointment. Apart from this, an increased number of senior grade officers are currently OSD in Punjab, or they are forced to work in lower grades. The concept of OPS posting is against merit and fairness; therefore, it should not be allowed to continue.
