ISLAMABAD: The government has notified on Wednesday the Rotation Policy for Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers to be implemented with effect from January 1, 2021 without any exception.
The Rotation Policy has been linked with the promotion of these officers to ensure that all governments are served by PAS/PSP officers in various grades and the tendency of officers to remain in one government for years by bringing extraneous pressures is checked and curbed.
“There shall be no exception to the application of the policy on any grounds whatsoever, including gender or marital status except where expressly stated,” the policy said, adding that the standard exceptions like personal hardship and spousal location, which are a norm in many other cadres and departments across the country shall not be available to the officers of PAS and PSP, given the primacy, priority and eminence of their service groups and positions they occupy.”
It added that wedlock policy shall also not be applicable to PAS/PSP officers.
The policy shall regulate transfer/posting of PAS/PSP officers falling in the following categories: a) First allocation, and service after completion of specialised training programme, in a government other than of an officer’s province of domicile; b) Mandatory service in hard areas for male officers in BS-17 to 19; c) Rotation of officers serving for long continuous periods at one geographical location; d) Rationalisation of shortage of officers in each grade, among all the governments, by transferring least rotated officers to government(s) with highest shortage.
A male officer shall be required to serve in the provincial government/ICT/GB until his promotion to BS-18 or for five years. A newly appointed female officer shall, however, serve outside her province of domicile for at least three years or until her promotion to BS-18, whichever is earlier.
For PSP officers, the one-year FC posting in BS-17 will be considered as a period served in the government of initial allocation.
Every male PAS/PSP officer will have to serve a minimum of two years in the hard areas notified by Establishment Division during service in BS-17 to 19.
No officer of BS-20 and below be allowed to serve in a government for more than 10 years continuously. The period spent on leave, training and foreign postings shall not be considered as break.
Once an officer has been compulsorily rotated under the policy, male officers shall not return to the government of his previous ten-year posting before completing two years at stations of his posting situated outside of the geographical limits of government of his ten-year posting.
Female officers shall not return to the government of her previous ten-year posting before completing one year outside the same government/province.
The current officers who have served continuously for ten years or more in any of the government shall be transferred to other governments in three phases spanning over six months and starting with the officers who have longest tenures in a government. Female officers will be rotated in the second and third phase.
To meet shortage of officers in any government, the officers can be rotated even before completion of ten years continuous service and the least rotated will be transferred first.
According to the policy, the government may also transfer any officer from any government, and post him/her to any government at any time in his/her career keeping in view the exigencies of governance, before completion of 10 years’ continuous service in a government.
Shortage of officers, along with the numbers required for equalising the shortage ratio, in all governments viz a viz sanctioned posts in each year shall be worked out by Establishment Division in January and July of each year. Grade-wise lists of officers for rotation shall be prepared by the ED twice a year, in the months of January and July. Government may transfer a BS-21 or 22 officer from any government and may post him/her to any other government.
For the purpose of eligibility for promotion to BS-19, service of at least 5 years and 3 years outside the province of domicile shall be compulsory for every male and female officer respectively. This condition shall be applicable on the batches who are inducted in these services through CSS exam in the year 2020 and onwards.
A male officer shall be considered for promotion if he has not served a hard area for at least two years. This provision will become effective after three years from the date of notification of the policy.
An officer shall not be considered eligible for promotion to BS-21 if he/she was serving in a government continuously for more than 10 years and until he/she has been transferred out of that government. This provision shall become applicable after two years from the date of notification of this policy.
Although wedlock policy shall not apply to these officers, spouses shall be posted closest to places of postings.
Officers shall be allowed to retain at least one government accommodation anywhere in the country for settling their families.