Number of high-ranking OSDs rises to 44

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–Senior civil servants being kept as officers on special duty for over three years

–Numerous officers made OSDs in 2018 after PTI took charge

ISLAMABAD: Around 44 government officers in grades 20 to 22 from different service groups are currently officers on special duty (OSD), meaning they have not been posted anywhere and doing nothing after being told to report at the Establishment Division.

According to available documents, at least five officers of BS-22, 16 officers of BS-21 and over 22 officers of BS-20 are presently OSD meaning that the government has been unable to find them any suitable posting but still pays them full salaries, costing the public exchequer millions of rupees every month.

A couple of officials are OSD for over three years (since 2015 and 2016) waiting for posting.  A source who wishes to remain anonymous said that some of the OSDs were considering voluntary retirement due to sheer frustration.

According to the documents, Sardar Abdul Majeed, BS-22 police officer, was made OSD on November 14, 2018. He will reach superannuation age on June 16, 2020.

Similarly, Sqn Ldr (r) Iqbal Mehmood, a BS-22 Police Officer, was made OSD on June 27, 2018. He will be retired on March 14, 2019, with little chance of getting any position before his retirement.

Besides, Muhammad Ashraf of BS- 22 from the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) was made OSD on December 19, 2018. He was waiting for posting before reaching superannuation age on October 2, 2020.

Rizwan Memon, a BS-22 officer from PAS, was made OSD on August 30, 2018, and still waiting for posting. He will be retired on June 8, 2020. Muhammad Javed Anwar BS-22 from Pakistan Railways was made OSD on November 26, 2018, and got retired on January 31, 2019, without getting posting.

Among the BS-21 officers, Syed Tahir Raza Naqvi of PAS was made OSD on August 29, 2018, and was waiting for posting.

Among the other BS-21 officers, who have been OSD and are waiting for posting, include Capt (r) Ahmed Lateef, Syed Khalid Raza Gardezi, Dr Mujeebur Rehman Khan, Capt (r) Abbas Hussain Malik, Capt (r) Muhammad Amin, Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, Mian Waheedudin, Muhammad Asad Islam Mahani, Ahmed Bilal, Mushtaq Ahmed Sheikh, Jamal Yousuf, Muhammad Asif, Umar Rasool, Taha Hussain Bugt, and Muhammad Ilyas Khan

The BS-20 OSDs include Aftab Ahmed Manika, Zarar Haider Khan, Rashid Mehmood, Capt (r) Tahir Mehmood, Let (r) Nashir Mehmood Satti, Muhammad Azeem Khan, Akram Naeem Bharuka, Suhail Akhtar, Babar Bakht Qureshi, Dr Mir Ejaz Hussain Talpur, Mr Allahyar, Nadeem Iqbal Abbasi, Shehzad Nawaz Cheema, Ghulam Dastgir Khan Baloch, Muhammad Arshad Khan, M Azeem Arshad, Sumera Samad, Yousuf Khan, Naveed Salih Siddiqui, Salman Mufti, Saad Akhtar, Abdul Raoof Khan and Capt (r) Usman Mumtaz Raja.

Among those OSDs of BS-21, five officers will retire next year and, according to sources, they are frustrated for not being posted by the government. A number officers without offices were made OSD in 2018 after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led took charge of the government.

Interestingly, Muhammad Azam Khan, a BS-20 officer from Police Group, has been OSD since July 28, 2015, which means he has not been posted for over three years. Similarly, Aftab Ahmed Manika of BS-20 from PAS was waiting for posting since August 5, 2016, when he was made OSD. He will be reaching superannuation on August 24, 2019, without getting posting for over three years.

Muhammad Imdadullah Bosal of BS-21 (PAS) was made OSD on August 20, 2018, and he obtained one-year study leave till August 24, 2019. Muhamad Azim Arshad of BS 20, who was made OSD in 2016, had also obtained long leaves. Yousuf Khan of Bs-20, who was also made OSD in 2015 was now on leave till November 2019.

Others officers of Bs-20, who got long leaves after being made as OSDs were included Salman Mufti, Sumera Samad, Naveed Salih Siddiqui, Usman Mumtaz Raja, Saad Akhtar and Abdul Rauf Khan.