It has been months that the coveted posts of defence secretary and establishment secretary are lying vacant, as the federal government is showing reluctance in filling them due to “political reasons”, sources said.
According to sources, currently five officers of Grade-22 were waiting for their posting as federal secretaries, but the government was not willing to appoint any of them to the high-profile posts, and wanted to run these ministries on ad-hoc basis.
Sources said the government had been ignoring the Grade-22 officers for appointment as federal secretaries, while recently appointing their juniors (Grade-21 officers) on some of the posts of secretaries. They went on to claim that five officials of Grade-22 were waiting for their posting as federal secretaries, while the government had offered some of the posts to Grade-21 officials, who had just been elevated from Grade-20 and were enjoying political backing. According to the rules, only a government official in Grade-22 qualifies for holding the post of federal secretary. This slot can only be given to Grade-21 officer in case a Grade-22 officer is not available. A few weeks ago, the government promoted nearly two dozen officials. Some were elevated from Grade-21 to 22, while others were promoted from Grade-20 to 21.
However, sources said the government was still keeping mum on the fate of Grade-22 officers which include Qasim Niaz, Shaigan Sharif Malik, Anjum Bashir, Nazeer Saeed and Nazar Bashir. These bureaucrats are believed to be neutral, and are still waiting promotion.
Waiting to be appointed on the key slots of defence secretary and establishment secretary, the above mentioned officials are less likely to be appointed. “The government is not willing to appoint any of the five Grade-22 officials in queue on these posts,” sources claimed.
They said that Zafar Abbas Luk, who was recently promoted to Grade-21, had been appointed as federal secretary of the Narcotics Control Board immediately after his elevation from Grade-20.
Asif Ghafoor, who is also in Grade-21 now, had been appointed as secretary of the National Heritage and Integration because of his alleged political backing. Munir Qureshi, another Grade-21 officer, had been appointed as secretary of the Board of Investment (BOI), Islamabad, because of his supposed connections with BOI Chairman Saleem Mandviwala.
Farooq Awan, who had also been elevated to Grade-21, was given the post of federal secretary for Information Technology.