MNA Captain (r) Muhammad Safdar on Friday criticised the prime minister’s personal secretary, accusing him of favouritism in bureaucratic promotions.
In a call-attention notice in the National Assembly, Safdar said that Fawad Hassan Fawad was deciding promotion cases of government officials in grade 20 and above on the basis of his own likes and dislikes.
“An individual is calling the shots and making promotions on the basis of his own desires,” he said.
He suggested that a parliamentary committee be formed to deal with promotion of officers of grade 20 and above. “Decisions should be taken on the basis of the officers’ performance and track record,” he said.
“The elected representatives can take better decisions about promotion of civil servants on the basis of their past performance because they serve in our constituencies as assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners,” he said.
“All federal secretaries should attend sessions of the two houses of Parliament so that they can learn about the people’s problems,” he said. Safdar said that the attendance of federal secretaries should be made mandatory. Safdar praised the services of former secretary Saeed Mehdi.
“Fawad Hassan Fawad should sit in this House so that he can learn about the problems of the people,” he said.
Safdar said that most elected representatives were aware of the activities of bureaucrats, alleging that the officials were running private offices.
“We know that most of the bureaucrats run their private offices in the evening and how they invest in the real estate sector,” he said.
The lawmaker asked Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi to form a parliamentary committee to deal with promotion of senior civil servants.
Safdar’s views were warmly welcomed by both treasury and opposition lawmakers, who also expressed a lack of confidence in officials of the Prime Minister’s Office. They said that issues such as promotion of bureaucrats should be dealt with by Parliament and not by an individual.
Pakistan People’s Party’s Ayaz Soomro and Naveed Qamar also supported Safdar’s views and called for amendments to the relevant law.
