PESHAWAR: One of the most decorated police officers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recruited through the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) in grade-17 is going to retire in a few weeks with just a single grade promotion during the last three decades.
Another senior PCS officer, Sajid Khan Mohmand, who too was recruited as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in grade-17 in 1988, could get only one promotion to grade-18 in almost 29 years of service before he was martyred in a suicide attack in Chaman, Balochistan a few days ago.
Gul Afzal Afridi is another police officer who performed extraordinarily wherever he was posted in almost three decades of service.
“He was recruited as DSP in grade-17 in 1988 and is going to retire soon in grade-18, thanks to different provincial governments that couldn’t give a proper service structure to the officers that they recruited in three batches in 29 years,” a police officer told The News.
The official added that this was because of the policies of the government that an officer who is respected for being an honest and brave commander is going to retire as SP. Many of those recruited as constables can even reach the rank of SP in 30 years of service.
“He truly deserved more promotions even on the basis of his performance and should have served at least as deputy inspector general (DIG). Though some of the PCS officers of his batch managed to get promotion to grade-19 and also served as DIGs after getting further shoulder promotion, Gul Afzal and a few others are still serving in grade-18,” said an official.
Another officer of the batch, Sajid Khan Mohmand, too could get only one grade promotion in 29 years before he died. Mohmand was martyred in a suicide attack on his car in Chaman where he was serving as the district police officer.
There are a few other PCS officers who were recruited as DSPs in grade-17 in 1988 and also in 1990 and are still serving in grade-18. The officers of the last batch of PCS recruited in 2001 are also junior to those recruited through the Central Superior Services.
Some of the PCS cops are still fighting a legal battle to get their right of promotion, at least on a par with the officers of the Provincial Management Service. They are also demanding provincial quota for the PCS police officers in senior grades. However, the lack of proper service structure and strong opposition by the officers of the Police Service of Pakistan have so far deprived them of all that they have been demanding for years.
“If the government has already recruited them, there must be a service structure for them so that they can be promoted even if it is at a slower pace compared to the PSPs. This is a sheer injustice, especially to those who are honest and have performed well throughout their career,” said a police officer.
