replaced Khalid Pervez as the additional chief secretary, planning and development department. Dr Hammad Agha has had an interesting civil service career as he has often remained an officer on special duty and has at times not been liked by politicians serving as his ministers due to his non-compromising nature and his insistence to work by the book.
As head of the inquiry committee into the Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak, Dr Hammad Agha delivered a damning report without being influenced by anyone and recommended tough punishment to those found responsible for any lapse in security and discipline.
Presently, those civil servants in BPS-21 in KP include secretary finance Syed Said Badshah Bokhari, senior member, board of revenue, Waqar Ayub, secretary agriculture, Muhammad Humayun Khan, the new additional chief secretary, planning and development department Dr Hammad Uwais Agha, the secretary home and tribal affairs department Akhtar Ali Shah and Fazli Rehmani, whose earlier posting was as the inconsequential secretary, inter-provincial coordination department and was then replaced by Tariq Jameel, an officer with good reputation but seldom able to get a proper posting.
Strangely enough, some of the bureaucrats have been given additional postings also while others were sidelined to head small and almost nonexistent department. A case in point is Ahmad Hanif Orakzai, a grade 20 officer who is presently the secretary for communication and works department and is also holding additional charge as secretary, administration department.
The province would be facing shortage of civil servants as eight senior officers would be attending a nine-month course at the National Defence University, Islamabad. They are secretary, sports and culture Aftab Akbar Durrani, secretary, higher education Mohammad Ali Shahzada, secretary establishment Akhtar Nazir, secretary, finance Fata, Sikandar Qayyum, secretary, science and technology and information technology Farah Hamid, commissioner Peshawar division Munir Azam, and general manager, Sarhad Development Authority Hazrat Massood Mian.
It is possible the officers who have been sidelined would fill the vacant places, but it then depends on political choices and compulsions of the PTI-led provincial government.The PTI, the largest party in the coalition government hasn’t been practicing merit in such appointments while its allies, Jamaat-i-Islami to a large extent and the smaller Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan to a lesser degree, have also been lobbying to get their favourite officers appointed on the choicest positions.