Deadline likely to be extended

ISLAMABAD - Though process of degree verification of the federal government employees including bureaucrats has ostensibly been initiated for the last couple of days, 45-day deadline is most likely to be extended due to slow response. Owing to slow pace of submitting academic certificates to the concerned administration offices the deadline could be extended, Cabinet Division sources told The Nation. The sources said that despite passing around one and half weeks around 10 per cent required degrees had been submitted with the concerned department so far. According to the official circular, the sources said, in the first phase the federal government employees were asked to show their original academic certificates for verification till March 20. The sources said that the government as per its issued circular was vying to complete the verification of degrees of thousands of federal government employees only in 45 days. But the experts of concerned verification departments were of the view that it was almost impossible to complete the work in the given time period. It would also not be out of place to mention here that fate of verification of educational documents of hundreds of members of the Senate, National Assembly (NA), and provincial assemblies is still hanging in the balance despite a lapse of over eight months. Keeping in view this pace of verification, experts cast doubts on completion of the work of checking academic certificates of 350,000 federal government employees in the said time period. According to unconfirmed figures, nearly 90 per cent of the total federal employees are working in lower pay scales (grade 1-16) while others are from grade 17 to 22. It was also learnt that this process might be adopted in three phases. The sources said that as per the first phase, high-level officials had been asked to submit their original educational certificates till March 20. While, the second phase would be initiated after observing the turnout or response, said the sources. On the other hand, political pundits termed it an opening of another Pandoras box as the government was already engaged in different affairs. It is relevant to mention here that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in an announcement had directed the Establishment Division to verify the educational certificates of the employees working in all federal government institutions by the respective institutions. A number of attempts were made to contact Secretary Cabinet Division Nargis Sehti and Chairman HEC on the issue but their cell phones were switched off.