Delay in CSS results

THE Federal Public Service Commission is an autonomous body and conducts various competitive examinations at intervals and the Central Superior Services examination annually.

The CSS examination is conducted each year for recruiting young and talented graduates from all over Pakistan on the basis of allocated quota.

For the last three years there has been a problem of undue delay in announcing the results of the written examinations.

The written part of the Central Superior Services examination was held in February last, but results have not been announced in the last six months.

Agreed that the number of candidates appearing in the examination has drastically increased in the last three years, it is the foremost responsibility of the authorities concerned to inform CSS candidates about a specific timeframe of the announcement.

The Federal Public Service Commission chairman is requested to take measures for early and timely announcement of the CSS 2012 written examination results by fixing a certain timeframe.

BENAZIR MAHESAR
Kandiaro

Dawn

Mediocre civil servants

THIS is apropos of Tasneem Noorani’s article ‘The death of governance’ (Sept 18). I agree with the writer that promulgation of the new Sindh Civil Servants (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 has declared the death of governance.

The writer says: “The Sindh Civil Servants (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 gives the government carte blanche to circumvent the provincial Public Service Commission.”

This Machiavellian move is certainly the demise of merit. Now, instead of competent and honest civil servants, appointed through the competitive examination process, we will have the backstairs civil servants, selected on the basis of criterion of better servitude to the ruling political parties.

On the issue civil servants are indifferent, the media is soundless, and the judiciary is inactive. But here my concern is the silence from the candidates of competitive examinations who burn their midnight oil to become civil servants.

I call upon them that whether their conscience is paralysed. Or if they have presumed that one can be a good civil servant without discharging their responsibilities. They must bear it in mind that nature doesn’t care about the nation that cares not the meritocracy.

S. QAISER SOHAIL
Hyderabad

Source

Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: To curb smuggling of at least $2.5 billion per annum estimated by USAID, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has proposed the establishment of a Customs Border Force (CBF) and creation of 10,000 posts in phases, it is learnt.
According to official documents, the existing workforce posted at borders to control smuggling comprises just 124 sepoys with most of them being above 55 years of age. Referring to a recent report by the World Bank, the country lost approximately $35 billion between 2001 and 2009 on account of smuggling under the guise of Afghan transit trade alone.
The FBR has proposed to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf three structures including Customs Border Patrolling Posts (CBPPs), Range and Regional Offices, CBF to monitor and curb smuggling in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Quetta, Gwadar and Karachi and establishing CBF headquarters in Islamabad headed by a director general of BS-21.
The FBR has prepared a concept paper and presented it to the PM in his recent visit to the FBR but it requires the assent of the Ministry of Finance and other relevant forums. “Yes, we have recommended to PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf the establishment of infrastructure at borders for effective enforcement and revenue collection when he paid a visit to the FBR,” said FBR Member Customs Mohammad Riaz.
Top officials also referred to another study undertaken by USAID, which found that every year $2.5 billion goods are being smuggled back into Pakistan via the Afghan transit trade. According to the FBR concept paper, the main enforcement unit will be the CBPP, which will be responsible for patrolling enforcement against smuggling of narcotics, chemical precursors, explosive precursors, contraband items, raw material and general merchandise from the neighbouring countries and sea into Pakistan.
Patrolling posts will be created after every 50-60 km in the areas alongside the borders of Afghanistan and Iran and along the coastal belt of Pakistan.Four to five CBPPs would be monitored by the Range Office headed by an officer not below deputy director and these offices will be located in a city or town that is strategically important to control smuggling.
Similarly, a Regional Office headed by an additional director of BS-19 will supervise two to three Range Offices. The FBR proposed four divisional headquarters in Peshawar with the mandate to curb smuggling across the Pak-Afghan border.
Source..The News, October 16 2012.

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In strategy it is important to see distant things close and take a distanced view of close things.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has agreed in principle to give BPS-22 to the all members of Federal Board of Revenue and directed the chairman FBR to send a summary to him regarding new 350 posts from grade-19 to grade-21 through Ministry of Finance after completing all legal requirements for approval.

The prime minister said that the FBR would get 350 new posts from BPS-19 to BPS 21. He stated this while agreeing with the proposals of the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Ali Arshad Hakeem of giving 150 new posts from grade-19 to 21 to Pakistan Customs Service and almost 200 posts of same number to Inland Revenue Services. He said that he would be pleased in giving these posts to the FBR.

Hanif Khalid
Saturday, October 06, 2012

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In strategy it is important to see distant things close and take a distanced view of close things.

THE army has a quota in the Central Superior Service, and civil service examinations are the most authentic and prestigious examinations in our country. These examinations judge the overall calibre of a person willing to join the Civil Service.
Our army was allocated quota as a favour by dictator Gen Ziaul Haq during his reign by amending the law through his puppet parliament.
The quota is allocated for the top three groups in Civil Services of Pakistan, i.e. Police Service of Pakistan, Pakistan Administrative Service (former DMG) and Foreign Service of Pakistan.
The serving commissioned officers of the three forces join civil bureaucracy without taking any kind of written examinations.
This is sheer injustice to the candidates who have to burn midnight oil even to pass the examinations.
In the beginning (when this wicked law was passed), the army inductees were given last positions in the seniority list. When Zia came to know about this, he added icing to the cake by passing a law in which the army inductees were given topmost slots in the seniority list.
They were given marks equal to the top scorer of the group they had joined. This infringes upon the merits of this examination.
Nowadays, the PPP talks big that it has restored the constitution as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had wanted it. I would like to draw their attention to this infamous amendment by Gen Zia of not only inducting army men into the Civil Service but also placing them second to none.
This demoralises prospective Central Superior Service candidates who are genuinely judged by undergoing written assessment.
The placement of army inductees on top of the seniority list is also infamous among the group members. This quota should be abolished immediately.
Therefore, I request the sitting lawmakers to do away with the unrighteous law and foul play by Gen Zia who said: “What is a constitution? Just a piece of paper, which I can tear apart and throw away anytime”.
IMTIAZ AWAN
Islamabad


Dawn

Pay commission calls for doing away with salary distortions

Khaleeq Kiani | 11 hours ago

ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The Pay and Pension Commission has sought an end to payment of ‘special’ salaries to employees of institutions like the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and recommended that a government official’s various allowances be merged to form a pay package that reflected his or her true monthly income.

The proposal is aimed at ensuring equal treatment of all civil servants.

A meeting of the commission chaired by former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain here on Friday was attended by former secretary-general of finance division Naveed Ahson, adviser to finance ministry Rana Asad Amin and additional finance secretaries of the four provinces.

Dr Hussain told Dawn that he wanted to get promotions and salary raises linked to performance through introduction of a proper performance manual system instead of the traditional annual confidential reports. He said that use of seniority as the basis for promotions “does not differentiate between a horse and a donkey when it comes to rewarding performance and output”.

“The entire salary structure needs to be changed so that salaries are uniform but performance-based. They should not be awarded on the basis of the location of posting,” he remarked.

Dr Hussain said the salary structure should do away with the doubling or tripling of the allowances for those working, for instance, in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat or Federal Board of Revenue.

He said the commission had recommended that various allowances of a civil servant be integrated so that his/her pay package clearly showed what the government was paying to him or her. Citing an example, he said talented youngsters often refused to join a government department in grade 17 when they were told that their salary would be Rs20,000 per month, without realising that their take home salary might be more than Rs50,000 a month.

Dr Hussain said the commission had opposed the way the policy called ‘monetisation of transport facility’ was implemented.

“A good idea (monetisation of transport) was botched up during the implementation phase,” he said.

Under the policy as implemented by the government, the authorities were not just giving away huge cash compensations but vehicles as well. “That is absolutely wrong,” said the former governor of State Bank.

The pay commission had recommended that the practice of giving vehicles to civil servants should be done away with, he said.

The revised pay structures would be applicable neither to personnel of the armed forces nor to members of the judiciary, a source said.

The government wanted to introduce the revised structure with effect from Jan 1, 2013, to send a positive signal to the bureaucrats before the elections.

The commission has noted that in secretariats of the president and prime minister the salaries are often 200 per cent greater than other departments, due to special allowances paid to officials working there. This not only causes anxiety but also encourages ‘political hobnobbing’.

The commission has directed the regulation wing of the finance ministry and provincial governments to design salary packages in a manner so that distortion in salaries is removed. They have been asked to submit their reports within three weeks for consideration of the commission during its next meeting.

Sources said that during the meeting Dr Hussain criticised the government for allowing greater enhancements in the salaries than what was recommended earlier by the commission. This served to erode the government’s fiscal space and create fiscal imbalances.

He was also worried over non-implementation of his recommendations regarding creation of special service structures for health, education and police cadres and demanded that all previous recommendations be acted upon by the government.

Source: Dawn, 20 October 2012

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Muhammad Ali Asghar

Disparity in pay scales: Civil servants must wait for pay raise

Shahbaz Rana

ISLAMABAD:
As pressure mounts on the government to bring an end to discriminatory practices, the Pay Committee has decided to keep the pay scales of civil servants unchanged while vowing to address genuine concerns of the employees without putting additional strain on the exchequer.
Headed by former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Ishrat Husain, the committee decided on Friday that in its efforts to remove disparity in salaries, it will adopt a path that will have no implications for the budget.
The government constituted the committee to rationalise or bring maximum possible equality in the salaries of employees working in equal basic pay scales in various government departments. At present, employees of some of the government departments are getting more than the normal pay of civil servants.
Few of these departments are the Presidency, Prime Minister Secretariat, Federal Board of Revenue, judiciary, armed forces, National Highway and Motorway Police, Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, National Accountability Bureau and PM’s Security.
The employees of the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) have given a deadline to the government either to increase their salaries or withdraw the raise given to other departments. The budget constraints have forced the finance ministry to undertake an assessment before taking any decision.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Ministry of Finance spokesman Rana Assad Amin said the Pay Committee discussed three options, which were on table. It reviewed the possibility of equalising salaries of all employees by increasing the pay of comparatively less-paid people. However, this option will put a huge burden on the national exchequer and is likely to be dropped at the end of the day.
The committee also discussed the possibility of equalising salaries by decreasing the pay of the privileged club and increasing the pay of those who are being paid less.
The last option was to merge the four ad hoc allowances in the salaries of those employees who are comparatively paid less. This option is likely to be picked up as it will not have an immediate impact on the budget, but will increase the pension bill in coming years.
In the next meeting, likely to be held after Eid, the regulations wing of the finance ministry will present implications of each option for the budget.
Amin said the committee decided that in the first phase only the salaries of civil servants will be rationalised and pay scales of the judiciary and armed forces will be considered in the second phase.
According to calculations of the finance ministry, a grade 22 civil servant is normally getting monthly salary of Rs122,936. The same official, if working in ERRA, will get Rs154,117, in FBR his salary will be Rs187,286, in Presidency and Prime Minister Secretariat Rs170,747 and in NAB Rs154,117.
The grade 22 officer of the Supreme Court, Islamabad High Court, Federal Shariat Court and the law ministry will get the highest salary of Rs234,685. In ISI, the grade 22 officer is getting Rs149,961 and a lieutenant general of the army will get Rs140,148.
Similarly, a grade 1 employee of a civil department will get Rs15,305 per month, in FBR the amount goes up to Rs22,003, in ERRA Rs18,193, in Presidency and PM Secretariat Rs20,273, in NAB Rs18,408, in NHA Rs29,001, in Model Traffic Police Rs29,433, in Eagle Force Rs19,625, in PM Security Rs20,921, in ISI Rs18,113 and in armed forces Rs19,452. The judiciary’s grade 1 employee is getting Rs32,686.
The finance ministry’s spokesman said the committee also decided to consult all the provinces before taking a final decision. It also decided to implement the remaining recommendations of the Pay and Pension Commission of 2009. These recommendations include monetisation of housing rent.


Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2012.

Bureaucracy :civil servants get 2 year extension in service.

ISLAMABAD / MULTAN: In a move that will benefit hundreds of bureaucrats across the country, the federal government has announced a two-year increase in the retirement age of all civil servants.

The decision will be implemented from November 1, 2012.
The change has been made through a presidential approval by amending the Civil Services Act 1973, instead of the usual parliamentary amendment.
According to a notification issued by the establishment division, civil servants would now retire a day before their 62nd birthday. Earlier the retirement age was 60 years.
“In pursuance to the recommendation of the Civil Services Reforms Committee, the president has been pleased to approve the following amendment in the Civil Services Act, 1973, which shall come into force w.e.f 01-11-2012 and shall apply to all regular civil employees: The age of retirement for a government employee shall henceforth be the last day of 62nd years counting from the date of birth,” reads the notification issued by the establishment division.
Earlier, there was a proposal to increase the retirement age limit from 60 to 63 for men and from 55 to 60 years for women civil servants. It is not clear why this proposal was dropped and why parliament was by-passed and a presidential nod was sought for implementing the move.
Since many key federal secretaries were about to retire in the next few months, the move would have political and financial benefits for the incumbent PPP government which is scheduled to go for the general elections early next year, according to sources.
Finance Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana was scheduled to retire on November 5, while Muhammad Javed Malick, secretary for the planning and development division, was to reach the age of superannuation on January 6, 2013. There are a number of other federal secretaries and Grade 22 officers of different departments who would have retired in the coming year.
The government claims that by increasing the age of retirement it would not only benefit from these experienced officials but would also save millions of rupees that it would have to give them as retirement benefits besides pensions.
Other federal secretaries, as well as Grade 22 officers who would have retired in the current fiscal year include: Khushood Akhtar Lashary on March 10, 2013, Zafar Mehmood in grade 22 on April 30, 2013, Qamar Zaman on December 5, 2013, Javed Iqbal on August 1, 2013, Muhammad Abbas on December 20, 2013, Raja Muhammad Ikramul Haq on December 2, 2012, Anisul Hassan Musvi on November 3, 2012, Ghulam Dastagir Akhtar on March 23, 2013, Muhammad Javed Iqbal Awan on December 1, 2013, Muhammad Ayub Qazi on July 24, 2013, Khawaja Mohammad Siddique Akbar on July 23, 2013, Maj Haroon Rashid (retd) on November 28, 2012, Munawar Opel on April 22, 2013, Gul Mohammad Rind on October 10, 2013, Kamran Lashari on December 21, 2012, Shaighan Sharif Malick in September 2013, Amjad Nazir in September 2013, Anjum Bashir on January 23, 2013, Ziaudin on February 15, 2013, Khalid Khan Toru on December 2, 2012, Sheikh Muhammad Tahir on December 28, 2013 and Ghulam Bux Awan on August 5, 2013.
The government says its pension bill is going to explode by 2015 as bulk of the civil servants will touch their retirement age by that time.
According to a report, the bill of the civil servants’ pension will double from Rs25billion to Rs50 billion over the next five years as bulk of the employees came into the fold of service after 1985.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2012.

‘Army quota in CSS’

THIS is apropos of the letter ‘Army quota in CSS’ (Oct 19) by Imtiaz Awan. The writer has rightly pointed out that there should be no quota for army officers in the Central Superior Service because the army officers are directly inducted into CSS without appearing in the CSS examinations.

In a way, the army officers short circuit and bypass the all-important written examination comprising of 11 or 12 full-fledged papers. I wonder which wise man introduced this system because Pakistan Army inherited it from the British Army.

The 10 per cent quota in the Indian Civil Service existed even during the days of the British Army. The Pakistan Army actually wastes out the good army officers who go through two years of rigorous training at the Pakistan Military Academy followed by six-month course in School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta. Then they go to their respective arms schools such as school of armour, artillery, etc., for approximately six months. During the middle of their career they are put through various useful courses and groomed for a future in the army.

In the meanwhile, they are attached with a unit in Siachen glacier for one to two years. When after seven to eights years of service they mature into a hardened and experienced officer, instead of army fully benefiting from them, they are suddenly transferred to civil service.

What a loss to the army. All above mentioned training/grooming comes to a naught. So the army should never ever allow their young officers to opt for a civilian job. The induction of the army officers into civil service only becomes a source of heartburn besides being a great loss to the army. In the Ingle Hall at the PMA, Kakul, it is inscribed ‘my country comes first, my duty second, I come last of all.’

SAFIR A. SIDDIQUI
Karachi

Dawn

Equal perks for civil officers


ACCORDING to a news report, the Public Accounts Committee has advised the establishment division to revisit the policy of plot allotment to federal secretaries/BPS-22 officers on retirement.
It would be pertinent to mention here that a general or a lieutenant-general or an equal rank navy/air force officer not only gets a number of plots, houses, apartments during his/her tenure, but acres of (fertile) land along with tons of other privileges as well at the time of retirement.
However, the PAC, not even in its dreams, would ever dare to confer the same advice to the ministry of defence/GHQ. Or, would it? If the PAC cannot, then it also does not have any legal and moral obligation to bash civil service officers.
Also, I would request the Chief Justice to take suo motu notice of the existence of such anomalies of pre-and post-retirement perks between civilian and armed forces officers.
I request him to ensure that either award the same privileges to civil officers or bring armed forces officers’ perks at par with their civilian counterparts.
S.S.F. QURESHI
Islamabad
Dawn