Goodwill of political bosses must for secretaries to secure tenure

ISLAMABAD: Top bureaucrats will undergo six-month probationary period after appointment as federal secretary and their continuity in office will be subject to the satisfaction of prime minister and the concerned minister, according to the new policy prescription apparently aimed to end the practice of premature transfers and postings.

The federal government has approved this policy in the last cabinet meeting wherein tenure has also been cut to two-year contrary to Estacode rules which stipulate three years. According to the new policy guidelines, tenure is extendable to three years but the decision in this respect will be taken only after the review of a federal secretary’s two-year performance by the PM and the relevant minister, Dr Ishrat Hussain, Adviser to the PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, confirmed to The News.

These two performance tests for availing three-year tenure are notwithstanding the fact that the scrutiny of the candidates for federal secretaries will be done through a committee after rigorous scrutiny and judge the suitability for job.

Arbab Shehzad, a retired bureaucrat who is Adviser to PM on Establishment, will head a five-member selection committee for shortlisting a panel of three officers against each vacant position. The secretary establishment and secretary to the PM will be two other bureaucrats forming part of it. The federal minister for education and training is permanent member of this committee whereas the federal minister whose ministry’s secretary is to be selected will also be part of the committee as a temporary member.

In addition to the secretaries, the committee will recommend suitable officers in BS-22 and BS-21 for all federal posts including chief secretaries and inspectors general of police for the four provinces, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

For the scrutiny purpose, the committee would examine the dossier of eligible candidates, examine their suitability for the post and recommend a panel of three candidates against each vacancy. The panel will be sent to the PM, the final appointing authority, to pick one of them. Unlike the past, the minister in-charge has also assumed an important role in the selection process and in the performance review both.

Once a federal secretary is appointed, according to this newly approved policy, s/he will be on probation for the first six months. His performance in this period will be reviewed by the PM and the minister. Only in case they are satisfied, the secretary will be allowed to work for next one and half years. His tenure will be extendable for another year after yet another performance review.

PM Imran Khan vowed time and again to depoliticise bureaucracy through offering them security of tenure. Work in this respect started last year when the Dr Ishrat Hussain submitted the first summary to the cabinet in its meeting held on November 9 last year.

As the summary was placed before the cabinet on November 14 last year, a sub-committee was constituted comprising ministers of education, planning, defense, railways and adviser to PM on institutional reforms. The sub-committee, in its recommendations, proposed a selection committee comprised of the adviser to PM on establishment, education minister, the minister of whose ministry secretary is to be decided, secretary establishment and secretary to PM.

It was further decided that the selection committee will recommend suitable candidates, the normal tenure will be of two years subject to review by the minister in-charge after initial six months and that tenure can be extended to three years on the basis of review by the concerned minister.

As the differences emerged in the recommendations submitted by the task force comprised of bureaucrats and the ministerial committee, the matter was referred to the PM who upheld the decision of two-year tenure extendable to three years subject to performance review and allowed the concerned minister to be part of selection process and performance analysis. The summary was subsequently approved in the cabinet meeting held last week.