ISLAMABAD: The 15th Common Training Programme (CTP) of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) – previously known as (District Management Group) DMG – has emerged as a ‘darling’ civil servants group as it somehow managed to keep key positions, mostly secretaries, in the federal capital’s main ministries by violating the due quota (65 per cent), Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.
Many ‘Baboos’ of this group of PAS officers have been promoted to grade 22 and have also attained important positions across the country.
Curiously, the officers who belong from the 10th to 14th CTP are still going from pillar to post to get a promotion to the highest scale (BS-22), but to no avail.
Belonging to the PAS 15th Common, the Prime Minister’s (PM) Principal Secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad and his batch mates are believed to be the only knowledgeable persons. Therefore, they have been appointed on key posts of the most important ministries.
Pakistan Today has obtained a couple of pages from the long list of 15th CTP officers occupying provincial key posts and also the posts of secretary in the federal ministries.
The list starts with Asad Ahya Uddin, who was appointed as Ministry of Industry and Production Additional Secretary in charge weeks ago. He is followed by Secretary Establishment Maroof Afzal, Secretary Petroleum Division Jalal Sikandar Sultan, and Aamir Ashraf Khawaja who is handling two ministries as a secretary; the National Security Division and Federal Education Division.
Further on the list are the batchmates of Fawad Hassan Fawad, Jawad Rafique Malik and Mr Rizwan Ahmad, who are working as chairmen for the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Pakistan National Shipping Cooperation respectively.
Shoaib Mir Memon is serving as Balochistan’s Chief Secretary, Allah Dino Khawaja is working on the position of Sindh police Inspector General (IG). Muhammad Saleem, an information group officer is working as the Press Information Department (PID) Principal Information Officer (PIO).
Punjab Planning and Development (P&D) Chairman, Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan is also from the 15th CTP.
Sources have confided in Pakistan Today that the government is also considering appointing Mr Jahanzeb as the Federal Secretary Finance in the next week as incumbent Secretary Shahid Mehmood is due to retire on January 6, 2017.
The senior bureaucracy was not only upset about Mr Fawad and his batch mates professedly being given special treatment when it came to postings and transfers but also that the powerful 15th CTP is holding the acting charge of different services as well.
Officers from different civil servant groups spoke to Pakistan Today and stated that the 15th CTP is a ‘darling’ group of the ruling federal government.
It is noted that the son-in-law of former PM Nawaz Sharif, Captain Safdar had reportedly slammed Mr Fawad on some matter, last year. He had stated that Mr Fawad was deciding about the promotion of government officers of grade 20 and above on the basis of his own likes and dislikes.
Captain Safdar (R) suggested forming a parliamentary committee which deals with the promotion of grade 20 and above officers but in vain.
It is important to mention here that the Establishment Division had also issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) on Feb 10, 2014, which also allocated 65 per cent of the reserved quota of promotion (BS-21 to 22) to PAS officers. Therefore, the remaining 35 per cent quota of promotion is left for other groups.
As per the set criteria by the Establishment Division on Feb 10, 2014, 25 per cent posts of Deputy Secretary (BS-19), 35 per cent posts of Joint Secretary (BS-20), 65 per cent posts of Additional Secretary (BS-21) and Secretary (BS-22) posts will be filled by PAS officers, leaving 75 per cent, 65 per cent and 35 per cent for the rest of the civil servant groups.
However, many officers claimed that PAS’s due quota of additional secretaries, joint secretaries, and secretary’s posts in federal ministries is being violated due to the monopoly of Fawad Hassan. “Mostly, the officers from 15th CTP were handpicked for key posts despite the fact that PAS’s due quota is already overfilled.”
It was also alleged in the circles of bureaucrats belonging to different groups that the aforementioned was the planned conspiracy of Fawad Hassan as he wanted to save some more space in ministries for PAS, the dominant group of civil servants.
Presently, PAS group officers who have been working as secretaries and chairmen in the important federal departments include Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) Chairman Syed Sohail Altaf, Cabinet Secretary Suhail Aamir, CADD Ministry Secretary Nargis Ghaloo.
Furthermore, Aviation Secretary Muhammad Irfan Elahi, Climate Change Secretary Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, Textile Secretary Hassan Iqbal, Commerce Secretary Younus Dagha, Power Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, Finance Secretary Shahid Mahmood, Economic Affair Division Secretary Arif Ahmad Khan, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Religious Affairs Secretary Khalid Masood Chaudhary, Ministry of Information Technology Secretary Rizwan Bashir Khan, Human Rights Secretary Rabiya Javeri Agha, Interior Division Secretary Arshad Mirza, National Food Security Secretary Fazal Abbas Maken, National Health Services Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch, Planning Secretary Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Ministry of Maritime Affairs Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Privatization Commission Secretary Irfan Ali, Ministry of State and Frontier Secretary Dr Captain (R) Jahanzeb Khan, and Ministry of Science & Technology Secretary Yasmin Masood, all are from PAS, also known as the DMG group.
Furthermore, all the chief secretaries also belong to PAS group. Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon is from 13th CTP, KPK Chief Secretary Muhammad Azam Khan is from 17th CTP, Punjab Chief Secretary Captain (R) Zahid Syed is from the 13th CTP, and Shoaib Mir Memon serving as Balochistan Chief Secretary belongs to the 15th CTP
Repeated attempts for a comment were made to contact the PM’s Principal Secretary, Fawad Hasan Fawad. Messages sent to him on WhatsApp were seen but not responded to.
