Action starts against bureaucrats not returning to Pakistan after study leave

ISLAMABAD: Barely a couple of months back, the mainstream newspapers splashed a show-cause notice advertised by the Federal Board of Revenue.

This was served on Rabnawaz Ahmed Matiana, a deputy commissioner of Inland Revenue Service, as the last opportunity to explain his position ahead of dismissal from service being proceeded against him. The officer has been absent for more than three years now. In October 2020, he went on study leave to Canada. Matiana returned after his leave expired in 2022, he reported back two-month late. Again, he applied for yet another five-year leave on the third day of his joining office.

Instead of waiting for the outcome of his application, he flew to Canada the very next day. The FBR is likely to dismiss him from service. He is not much interested in the job either. A couple of notices, served on his residence in Pakistan, have not been responded to. Another tax officer of Matiana’s rank also went abroad for studies. He has resigned instead of returning to Pakistan.

Many officers are sent abroad for studies every year and several of them choose not to return, especially the ones who go to either North America and Europe or Australia. They apply for citizenships there, which require a certain period of stay there which they manage by applying for leave either on study grounds or sickness. Five year is the maximum duration of leave that one can avail. Again, it is up to the department whether or not it considers the cited reason as plausible enough for granting the leave.

This practice is not limited to FBR officers. Most of the cases are related to the three occupational groups: Pakistan Administrative Service (formerly District Management Group), Police Service of Pakistan and Inland Revenue Service (FBR officers), according to a well-positioned officer of the Establishment Division. “This trend (of applying for citizenship of the host country while on study there) has been on the rise for the last few years. This is dangerous,” he said.

Some of the corrupt officers have also taken citizenship, said a career planning officer at the Establishment Division. Explaining his point, he said by ‘corrupt’ he means the officers whose general reputation about financial matters is bad. This point was further substantiated by FBR. An officer of tainted integrity went to Canada on study leave and opted for early retirement after remaining absent from duty for more than five years. The section concerned recommended dismissal on grounds of being absent but the prime minister approved his request of “honorable retirement”, said an officer who dealt with the matter.

But it doesn’t mean that all those choosing this path of obtaining second citizenship while hoodwinking the parent department are corrupt. Officers disillusioned from government service also fall in the category. They don’t find the salary sufficient enough to meet their needs. Also, inability to perform in an over-stressed and politicized environment in the absence of tenure protection are among other factors.

Although, the trend of settling abroad is growing, there are two kinds of officers choosing this path. One opts to resign and the other keeps clinging unless they are either terminated or dismissed from service. Termination is a relatively milder punishment in comparison with the dismissal.

As many as five such officers have been dismissed (two of them from PAS) under the watch of the current secretary establishment and disciplinary proceedings against another 10 officers is in progress, according to a source.