Officers to face action for taking issue to Senate

Political agents posting

PESHAWAR: Those who manoeuvred to make a Senator from Balochistan province to raise the issue of posting of political agents (PAs) in the four tribal agencies are likely to face action as the authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have initiated probe into the matter.

Sources in the provincial government confided to The News on Thursday that the issue of posting of the PAs in the four tribal regions that was raised in the Senate by Senator Muhammad Usman Kakar form Balochistan was under investigation to unearth the real motivators and planners behind the matter.

It is to be mentioned here that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary ordered the posting of the PAs of the tribal agencies of Kurram, Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber on February 9, just two days before the departure of the then governor, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan.

The matter was resisted by civil servants belonging to the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) and Provincial Management Service (PMS) cadre, saying that they were ignored in the posting as PAs.

The issue was also raised in the Senate by Usman Kakar on May 10, which was referred to the Standing Committee on the States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON). It was intriguing from the very outset as the issue was actually raised by a Senator from Balochistan who has never raised the issue of posting and transfers in his own province.

The committee submitted its report on the matter on July 21 recommending the reversal of these postings on the ground these were carried out in the absence of the governor.However, according to the documents, a summary for the posting of political agents Bajaur, Khyber Mohmand and Kurram was moved by Establishment Department on February 2, which was routed through chief minister and placed before the governor February 9.

The former governor, however, left the matter to chief secretary for an appropriate action with the remarks: “This process of selection of officers has taken long exercise of scrutiny on selection by all the concerned. However, since I will be relinquishing my charge today, I would leave it to chief secretary to take appropriate decision in the matter.” Thus the orders of the posting of the PAs were issued the same day very much in the presence of the ex-governor who relinquished charge of office on February 10.

He was also introduced to the newly-posted officers at his farewell dinner. If the postings would have been made without his concurrence, he could have reserved the same before leaving the charge on February 10.

The chief secretary, who is supposed to act as bridge between the federal and provincial governments, is walking on a tight rope since his posting at the province in terms of many matters as two rival parties are in power in the centre and province. The chief secretary represented to the Senate body that he took the decision as the positions could not be kept vacant till the appointment of the new governor, who took oath of his office on March 4.

The sitting governor after getting feedback from the stakeholders shared the view that with the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb and other activities, the frequent administrative changes would undermine the efforts of the law enforcing agencies (LEAs). He endorsed the posting of the PAs through a notification on August 2 that settled the issue.

However, sources said that during the initial probe it was unearthed that the saga of posting and transfers of the PAs was dragged to the Senate by a few officers. These officers, the sources said, were playing musical chair with the different agencies and established monopoly over the posts of the PAs.

The source claimed that the power-that-be has decided to put an end to this musical chair that has destabilized the entire system of governance in the tribal agencies and province by bring fresh blood to these positions.They said that proper probe was initiated to ascertain the plotters and motivators who unnecessarily dragged issue to the Senate and fix responsible in the respect.