LAHORE - A number of key slots lying vacant in Punjab speak either government’s ineptitude to post them or officers’ shortage in the province that is imperative for good governance and service delivery.
Reportedly over 30 important slots of gazetted officers including Secretaries, Punjab Service Tribunal Chairman, Director Generals of different departments, Members Inquiries, DCOs and others are lying vacant in the province.
Sources in the S&GAD disclosed that seven posts in grade-20, 12 posts in grade-19 and 13 in grade-18 were still vacant in the provincial departments. The vacant seats of grade 17 like Assistant Commissioners and others are not included besides vacancies lying vacant in autonomous bodies.
As per sources, the vacant posts of grade -20 include Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department, Secretary Industries, Commerce and Investment department, Secretary Ombudsman Office Punjab, Secretary HUD & PHE Department, Director Generals, LG&CD, Punjab, Director General, Katchi Abadies, Member P&D Board and Member (Enquiries-lll) S&GAD.
BS-19 vacant slots include Additional Secretary, Agriculture Department, District Coordination Officer, Bhakkar, District Coordination Officer, Mianwali, District Coordination Officer Sialkot, Director General, Child Protection & Welfare Bureau, Punjab, Additional Commissioner (Revenue), Lahore, Additional Commissioner (Consolidation), Gujranwala, Executive District Officer (Finance & Planning), Lahore, Executive District Officer (Community Development) Nankana Sahib, Executive District Officer (Community Development) RY Khan, Executive District Officer (Community Development) Narowal, Executive District Officer (Community Development) Sahiwal, EDO (Community Development) Faisalabad.
Grade 18 vacant slots in the Civil Secretariat and different districts include, Deputy Secretary, Finance Department, Deputy Secretary, Schools Education Department, Deputy Secretary, Cooperatives Department, Deputy Secretary, P&D Department, Deputy Secretary, Higher Education Department, District Officer (Coordination / HRM) Rahim Yar Khan, District Officer (Coordination / HRM), Bahawalnagar, District Officer (Coordination / HRM) TT Singh, District Officer (Human Resource Management) DG Khan, District Officer (Human Resource Management) Bahawalpur, District Officer (Human Resource Management) Sahiwal and District Officer (Human Resource Management), Bawalpindi and Secretary (DRTA) DG Khan.
Sources further said the reason for not posting officers on such slots is unavailability of ‘suitable’ officers. In pursuit of filling in these slots, the officers of Punjab establishment are burning in self-agony and frustration, they held, adding there are some officers posted as OSD even in grade 20 but they are not given posting against the vacant slots.
The office of the Punjab Service Tribunal (PST) has been being run on stopgap arrangement as a PST senior member has been entrusted with the duties of chairmanship. No Secretary to the Ombudsman office was posted since transfer of the last officer Umar Rasool and the administrative matters of the office were affected, the sources further revealed and added the office have sent many requisitions to the S&GAD but to no avail.
Moreover, Industries Secretary is another important slot that deals with the prices of commodities besides other commerce issues. All the price control phenomena of the provincial government are supervised by the Secretary Industries besides TEVTA and such issues.
DG Local government is another seat of great importance when the local bodies’ elections are at the doorstep, the system of government at local level is being overhauled, and there is no DG of the department.
A senior officer told that the empty slots of DCOs of Bhakkar, Sialkot and Mianwali also demand of the provincial government post suitable officers as their offices are the only place to resolve public issues at district level. He said the empty DCO office that also functions as District Collector of revenue causes loss to taxes.
Many development schemes, educational and health care activities in the districts are affected as the district government heads are absent, he regretted. The government should post suitable officers on the vacant slots so that issues of the common men could be addressed, he suggested.
A DCO conditioning anonymity told this paper that undue political interference in administrative matters has deteriorated service delivery besides morale of the officers in field formations. A good number of field officers themselves surrendered their posts and preferred to be posted at Civil Secretariat or autonomous bodies where there was least meddling in governmental affairs, he revealed.