Officers facing disciplinary action in forefront of strike

PCS Association leaders to meet CS for grievances’ redressal

PESHAWAR: The PCS Association has decided to meet chief secretary Amjad Ali Khan on Monday in connection with the redressal of their grievances while some colleagues of the protesting officers facing enquiries have been blamed for exploiting the ongoing strike of the provincial civil officers for their vested interest.

A senior officer, who wished not to be named, told The News on Friday that the tempo and tone of the agitation of the Provincial Management Service (PMS) and Provincial Civil Service (PCS) Association had embarrassed the senior officers. He said the kind of language used for the chief secretary was also the source of embarrassment for them.

He said that most of the PCS and PMS officers facing enquiries were spearheading the sit-in which had caused an artificial administrative crisis in the province.

The officer also shared the copies of enquiries being conducted against at least four officers who are in forefront of the ongoing pen-down strike and subsequent sit-in of the PCS and PMS officers.

The PCS and PMS officers have been staging pen-down strike in the province for the last three weeks. They have also been holding a sit-in in front of the chief secretary’s office since Wednesday.

In response to the strike, the chief minister on Thursday formed a cabinet committee led by Senior Minister Sikandar Sherpao to look into the matter. The PCS and PMS officers also welcomed the decision, but they also vowed to continue their strike.

Earlier, a delegation of the PCS associations led by its presidents Sajid Jadoon and Khalid Khan called on the chief secretary on May 4.

The officer quoted above said the chief secretary informed the delegation about the administrative steps the provincial government was taking to address the issues. He assured them that all possible measures would be taken to resolve the issues of the provincial officers.

The chief secretary, however, sought two weeks time to do the job.The officer said a high-powered selection board was formed that recommended the promotion of over hundred provincial officers while federal government was also approached to nominate officers of the provincial government for mandatory trainings on priority basis.

However, the officer alleged that there appeared a splinter group, led by officers among whom four (names withheld because they could not be reached on phone for comments) were senior officers facing enquiries and possible disciplinary action. He maintained that they ensured that the strike by provincial officers intensified.

Sharing the enquiry reports concerning these four senior officers, he said one of these officers of PCS Executive Group, is facing two enquiries, including one when he was District Coordination Officer (DCO) Kohat and leased away state land to private individuals in a clandestine manner without fulfilling the legal formalities.

The enquiry committee recommended a major penalty against him including dismissal from service. The report has already been sent to the chief minister for final orders.

In the second instance, the document showed that while serving as Inspector General of Prisons and commissioner Malakand the said officer provided prison and Malakand levies guards to a friend who used the guards for harassment and land grabbing in Islamabad.

Another officer in the forefront of the ongoing agitation is also PCS EG officer against whom enquiries have been completed in sexual harassment of the teachers of the Frontier Education Foundation (FEF) when he was serving as managing director (MD) of the Foundation.

The moving force behind the pen-down strike and sit-in of the provincial officers, the senior officer said, is a junior level PMS officer in BS-17, Fahad Ikram Qazi, who is also facing enquiry on the charges of misconduct, unauthorized absence from duty, insubordination and non-attendance of office.

By propping the idea of strike, he said these officers intend to pressure the provincial government to exonerate them of the charges against them.He also claimed that the PCS Association wanted to meet the chief secretary on Monday to discuss progress of steps being taken for redressal of their grievances.

Meanwhile, Fahad Ikram Qazi ridiculed the contention of the so-called senior officer and said he had been since long blackmailed in such enquiries. He said that even the fact-finding body could not find anything against him. He added that their strike would continue till the attainment of their rights.