Around 57 posts have been lying vacant for grades 20, 21 and 22 in the federal bureaucracy and several important ministries are being run by acting secretaries.
Establishment Division sources said that 13 posts in Grade-22, 9 in Grade-21 and 35 posts in Grade-20 are still vacant in federal ministries, divisions and autonomous organisations, even though the Prime Minister on Monday had approved the promotion of several Grade-21 officers to Grade-22.
Several posts for secretaries are vacant in the Secretary Capital Administration and Development (CAD), Finance Ministry, FATA Development Authority, Federal Ombudsman, NEPRA, Postal Services Division, National Heritage, Parliamentary Affairs Division, Revenue Division and the Ministry for Water and Power. These ministries are mostly being run by acting secretaries.
Grade-21 posts of additional secretaries are vacant in the ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Commerce, Finance, CAD, and Inter-Provincial Coordination. There are also several vacancies for Grade-20 joint secretaries in the ministries of Finance, Defence, Law and Justice, Postal Services, Cabinet Division and other departments.