The protest of a group of Officers belonging to Provincial Civil Service in Lahore Civil Secretariat and subsequent strike call on March 21 is a stark reminder of falling standards of the apex institution of Civil Service in Pakistan. It’s rather a shocking trend in the history of Civil Services in Sub-Continent that the very institution supposed to uphold the rule of law and public service is taking law in its hands to press for its demands, which prima-facie appears ultra-vires, and beyond the spirit of the 1973 constitution.
In the heydays of British colonial rule in India, there was a tradition of tendering resignation by the Civil Servant having some policy dissent with the government. Noted Islamic scholar and translator of Holy Quran, Allama Abdullah Yousaf Ali (1934) was an ICS Officer who resigned as like Akhtar Hameed Khan. The East India Company established the coveted Indian Civil Service. Consummate neutrality, intellect and public welfare were its hallmarks. It was above petty politics and it worked within a predetermined ambit of law. ICS worked really hard. They went everywhere to serve the British Raj and earned respect and alcove with their exemplary performance. They also earned respect in many other fields.
ICS was replaced with CSP and IAS in Pakistan and India respectively. According to the 1973 constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, there are two types of Civil Services; one is federal while the other cadre is provincial. Both the services complement each other and are supposed to serve the people in their respective ambit of law. Three years record of the Punjab government shows that it has adopted very facilitating attitude towards the PCS demands. However, it’s surprising that Punjab PCS cadre is demanding a number of new favors including repatriation of the DMGs to the federal government. This demand is detrimental to the spirit of federation and constitution. If all the provinces throw out the federal services from their territories, then who will solve inter-provincial matters and Centre-provinces relations.
According to a factsheet issued by the S&GAD department of the Punjab government, almost all the demands of the PCS/PMS/PSS cadres have been met and now PMS Officers are also being posted as Deputy District Officer (Revenue) in order of seniority as recommended by the Cabinet Committee formed by the Chief Minister Punjab. Like-wise, officers belonging to provincial services are also considered for posting as Provincial Secretary, Senior Member Board of Revenue, Commissioner and DCO. It is significant to note that nine meetings of PSB-I & nine meetings of PSB-II have been convened by the Punjab chief secretary since 2009 and a total of 320 provincial service officers have been cleared for promotion in different grades in these meetings. There are 5 ex-PCS/PSS officers in Grade 21, 37 in Grade 20, 105 in Grade 19 and 170 in Grade 18, against a share of 11, 53, 111 and 302 posts of the respective grades, as per the IPCC formula.
Similarly, for the posting of officers belonging to PCS/PSS in grade BS-18 and above, a total of 39 officers have been nominated for National Management Course since 2009, 95 officers have been nominated for Senior Management Course since 2008, 124 officers of grade BS-18 to BS-19 have been nominated for training in MPDD department during 2008-2010 and 191 other officers of grade BS-17 &18 were also nominated during 2009-11. It is worthwhile that Punjab government has regularized the services of as many as 82,562 officers and officials belonging to different departments during the last three years.
These included 70,004 officials from one to 15 grades and 12,558 officers of grade-16 and above. This shows strong commitment of the Punjab government towards the welfare of the provincial government machinery. However, Lahore Civil Secretariat protest shows the sad state of affairs of Punjab Civil Service which is supposed to behave in a way that doesn’t belittle its immaculate social stature, competence and intellect. Unfortunately, it appears that some PCS officers are trying to hoodwink the people with their unlawful demands which are self-motivated, un-constitutional and against the spirit of federation and constitution of Pakistan 1973. If they have any disagreement with the Moeen Qureshi formula of division of federal services in provinces then they should adopt legal means for redressal and should avoid behaving like a political activist.
Their demand of removing 300 DMG officers working against different posts in Punjab is unlawful as if we dislocate the DMG then who will handle sensitive affairs between provinces and the Centre. Can PCS fill vacuum of DMGs competence? They want to enjoy the GOR-1 Bungalows but for that they should also be able to exhibit competence of the elite DMG. They should keep in mind that PCS and the DMG are two similar faces of the Civil Service in Pakistan who should learn to work in their respective domains. They should also try to prevent rampant corruption in government offices, especially in public dealing departments.
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