Islamabad - Government is all set to initiate proceedings against officials who secured lucrative jobs on deputation in sheer violation of services rules, sources revealed on Tuesday.

According to officials, the cases would be initiated against all government officers or civil servants who are enjoying deputation in other departments and companies.

More than hundred civil servants of different groups are serving in different companies including Universal Services Fund under Ministry of Information Technology, National Highway Authority and regulators - Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Nepra, and Ogra.

In addition to above, many officials of different groups who have been enjoying deputation for the last many years in the same department will also be investigated. Some of the officials in Ministry of Water and Power and Petroleum have been serving on deputation for more than three years.

Similarly, the staff on deputation in regional offices of these departments will also be scrutinised.

According to rules, an officer on deputation may get up to 20 percent in addition of his or her basic salary which may not exceed Rs12000.

But in the companies working under different ministries and other government departments, officials of scale 18 are drawing a salary up to one million rupees under the shield of board decision.

Insiders believe the deputation is to oblige blue eyed who has been facilitating top management tier in corruption, bribes and presenting misleading figures.

Officials claimed that companies were established under Companies Act and could not hire staff on deputation.

According to service rules no government official can remain on deputation for more than three years, and there must be a gap of three years between every two deputations but majority of the officers in question are enjoying lucrative posts for more than three years.

The misuse of Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act 1973 under which an officer can be appointed against a vacant position of any department other than his/her parent organisation, has been questioned since decades but its use continued to grow just like the corruption.

Under a presidential order during 1971 East Pakistan crisis, the government allowed posting and transfers of civil officers in departments other than their original professional groups or parent departments. Since then, it is being used for postings and transfers of federal bureaucracy by the sitting governments, in sheer violation of merit and injustice to those who deserved.

“Officers are obliged on basis of their political connection or strong display of will to do anything to please the superior," said an official.

In the first phase, concerned departments will collect sufficient evidence and then will decide any further proceedings.

If found guilty, they may have to return all perks and privileges obtained during the illegal deputation period. The authorities will scrutinize all contracts with private firms and will look into if any competition rules were bypassed.

The appointment of former NHA chief and his recent appointment in a UN body will also be probed and how a Secretary of DMG group got a lucrative post in Punjab just after three days of his retirement, will also be looked into. Crackdown on management tier, in Islamabad and provinces is the second step to clean the house.

In first step corruption cases in 56 public companies in Lahore are under investigation.

Last week, all the civil servants working as heads or officials of these 56 public sector companies, reportedly, agreed to return all perks and privileges they had been withdrawing over and above their regular salaries.