Committee formed to reform KP civil service

PESHAWAR: In a bid to resolve the longstanding issues between various cadres of civil service, a committee was constituted on Monday to reform the provincial civil service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The committee among other things would also revisit the appointment and career-related matters of the civil servants.

According to the notification of the Establishment and Administration Department, the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Planning and Development (P&D) Department will head the committee tasked to reform the Provincial Civil Service (PCS).

Secretary Establishment Department, Secretary Finance Department, Zahir Shah, general secretary, Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) Officers Association, Abdul Ghafoor Baig, president PCS (EG) Officers Association and Fahad lkram Qazi, coordinator PCS Officers Association, are members of the committee. The committee may also co-opt any other member.

The different cadres of the federal and provincial bureaucracy have been at loggerheads in the province for years over the appointment, posting, career progression and training related issues.

The provincial civil service groups, PCS and provincial management Service (PMS) have been raising the matter at various forums, including provincial assembly, chief minister and chief secretary, etc.

The committee has been formed that, while following a set of nine-point Terms of Reference (ToRs), will revisit apportionment formula and streamline the structure of civil service.

It will also revisit the mode of examination as well as scope and structure of the syllabus for competitive examination in the province.

The committee will go through the criteria for career progression with an aim to make it performance oriented.