ISLAMABAD -  Meeting of the high-powered selection board (HPSB) is likely to be held on Thursday (today) regarding promotion of grade-21 officers of various services groups to grade-22, The Nation has learnt.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will chair the meeting in his office and secretary to PM, secretary Establishment Division and secretary Cabinet Division will be part of the meeting.

Well-placed sources informed The Nation that the Establishment Division had finalised the panels of all services groups of grade-21, which would be presented in the meeting.

They said that the Establishment Division prepared the new panels of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) with “a little bit” change.

The sources said that the name of secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad would also be part of the officers of the PAS who would get the promotion to the next grade.

The name of Establishment Division Secretary Asad Hayuddin is also included in the list of grade-21 but he will not get the promotion in grade-22 due to seniority issues, they added.

A senior official of the Establishment Division told The Nation that the HPSB would review the promotions cases of various services groups and it would approve the promotions of around 25 officers.

He said that seven seats of the PAS, five seats of Police Service of Pakistan, three seats of Secretariat Group, three seats of Inland Service group, three seats of Pakistan Foreign Service, two seats of Pakistan Customs Service and one seat of Information Group are available in this regard.

The official claimed that the HPSC would also review the promotion case of Rao Tehseen, who was facing an inquiry in the Dawn Leaks case.

According to documents available with The Nation, a dozen posts of grade-22 including seven posts of federal secretaries and five posts of special secretaries, in different divisions were lying vacant due to delay in the meeting of the HPSB.

The HPSB meeting was scheduled in the first week of July but it could not be held on time due to the Panama Papers case.

The documents revealed that four other officers of grade-22 including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Abid Saeed, Secretary Industries Khizar Hayat  Gondal, Printing Corporation of Pakistan Managing Director Nyla Qureshi, and NIPs Executive Director Dr Mukhtar Ahmed will also retire  by the end of this year.

The ousted PM Nawaz Sharif had chaired the last promotion board meeting held in the first week of February and had approved promotions of over a dozen officers to grade-22.