22 DCs, 5 PAs among 81 bureaucrats occupying higher grade posts

PESHAWAR
Ignoring the merit in posting of officers, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has posted 81 bureaucrats, including 22 deputy commissioners, in higher grades and in their own pay and scale.
Meanwhile, wrangling between the provincial and central civil service groups is continuing and has affected the working of the civil administration in the province.
A document shared with The News indicated that the provincial government could not do its bit to at least initiate reforms in the civil bureaucracy as warranted by the enactment of the 18th Amendment.
Apparently, this has led to the tug-of-war between the central and provincial civil service groups. The bureaucratic wrangling has not only affected the working of the government, but also led to ill-planning in the posting of officers of various grades which in some departments has also caused unjustifiable shortage of officers.
The province has 904 scheduled posts, including the BS-22 position of the chief secretary. There are 16 posts of grade-21, 60 of BS-20, 104 of BS-19, 172 of BS-18 and 551 positions of BS-17.
However, 102 posts of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), commonly known as District Management Group (DMG), are lying vacant as the PAS officers are occupying 113 posts of their quota of 216 posts in the province. These vacant posts are mostly of lower grade as majority of PAS officers are posted against the field positions of assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner.
The provincial government, according to the document, has posted eight grade-20 officers against the grade-21 positions of additional chief secretary Fata, three divisional commissioners, three administrative secretaries and chief executive Fata Development Authority in their own pay and scale. These also include 11 grade-21 posts on which grade-19 officers have been posted. Among them are six administrative secretaries in Fata and Civil secretariats, three special secretaries, director general Excise and Taxation and secretary provincial ombudsman. The provincial government has also posted a grade-19 officer as secretary Excise and Taxation, which is a BS-20 and 21 position. This officer is also holding the charge of the special secretary of the chief minister’s secretariat. The majority of the grade-19 posts are occupied by grade-18 officers irrespective of their occupational groups. These 44 grade-18 officers occupying grade-19 posts include 22 deputy commissioners, seven additional secretaries, five political agents, three additional commissioners, one chief of section, director civil defence, director (admin) Excise and Taxation, secretary Public Service Commission and vice commissioner Employees Social Security Institution. Moreover, 18 officers of grade-17 have been posted on positions of BS-18. They include the settlement officers in Chitral, Mansehra and Nowshera, four deputy secretaries and principal staff officers, two secretaries to commissioner, four district officers (Finance and Planning), two assistant political agents and deputy director Excise and Taxation. The slot of the deputy commissioner is a grade-19 schedule post, but 22 of the 26 deputy commissioners at the moment are grade-18 officers.
Only four Provincial Civil Service Executive Group (PCS-EG) officers including Zakaullah Khattak, DC Nowshera, Riaz Khan Mehsud, DC Peshawar, Aminul Haq, DC Chitral and Syed Mujeebur Rehman, DC Hangu, are in grade-19. The rest of the DCs are grade-18 officers occupying senior and higher grade posts. The PMS officers are mostly bearing the brunt of the violation of merit in postings. Only one PMS officer of grade-18, Zariful Maani, is currently posted as deputy commissioner Battagram.
The other 25 posts of deputy commissioner are occupied by nine PCS-EG and 16 PAS officers in various districts.
However, the PMS officers are well placed when it comes to the field postings as assistant commissioners (ACs). Among the 57 ACs posted in 26 districts, 32 are PMS officers while 25 of the ACs belong to the PAS group of the central civil service.