The Sindh provincial cabinet, due to 50 percent shortage of grade BS-21 officers of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), over 75 percent of BS-20 officers and 80 percent of grade BS-19, has decided to declare 58 posts of grade BS-21 and BS-20 as floating posts.
The cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah here at CM House. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, chief secretary Mumtaz Shah and Advocate General Sindh, according to a statement here on Tuesday.
The cabinet was told that due to heavy shortfall of the PAS officers and cancellation of additional and look-after charges by the courts of law a large number of important posts were lying vacant which were adversely affecting the functioning of the provincial government institutions. In such a situation the ultimate sufferer is the general public.
It was revealed in the cabinet that there were 25 posts of grade BS-21 in Sindh, of them 16 posts belonging to PAS as their share. Currently, only five officers of PAS were working and 11 posts [of grade BS-21] were vacant. Similarly, out of 142 sanctioned posts of grade BS-20, the PAS has a share of 67 posts but only 19 officers are working, and 48 posts were vacant. Out of 277 posts of grade BS-19 the PAS has a share of 59 posts against which only 25 officers are working, and 34 posts were vacant.
At this, the chief minister said that in order to ensure smooth functioning of government institutions filling up of at least important positions was sine qua known for the effective and efficient service delivery system. It was pointed out that the details of posts in the share of PAS, working strength and shortfall, were roughly worked out for the last six years. “The average figures for the last three years give a very grim picture as far as the availability of PAS officers in BS-19 and above was concerned – the Sindh government remained deficient by over 50 percent in BS-21, over 75 percent in BS-20 and 80 percent in BS-19,” it was revealed.
The cabinet, keeping in view the acute shortage of officers, decided to declare 11 posts of BS-21, including that of Chairman Planning & Development Board, Chairman CM Inspection & inquiries Team, Chairman Anti-Corruption Establishment and Commissioner Karachi Division as floating posts in BS-20/BS-21. On declaring such posts in BS-20/BS-21, the same could be filled from amongst BS-20 officers of PAS, Ex-PCS and PSS also on the basis of seniority.
Water shortage: Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro told the cabinet that the IRSA authorities has allowed transfer of water from Indus System to Jhelum-Chenab System through C-J and T-P Link Canals, as result not only the standing crops were turning pale but the fear of shortage of drinking water has emerged.
The cabinet urged the IRSA to stop flowing water into Jhelum-Chenab system and release water to Sindh. Load shedding: Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh took up the issue of prolonged load shedding in the rural areas of the province. He said that the old transformers installed in the rural areas usually burnt, and their repair took four to five weeks, as a result poor people suffer a lot.
The cabinet urged the power distribution companies to overhaul their system and install new transformers in their system, particularly in the rural area. Amendments: The cabinet was told that Provincial Benevolent Fund Board (PBFB) was custodian of the benevolent fund and catered to the claimed of subsistence allowance across provinces. The allowance is offered to the widow of the deceased government servant.
The chief secretary pointed out that the rules (Rule 10 of part-I and Rule 9 of Party-II) PBFB were silent on widower being the beneficiary. Therefore, the cabinet approved the amendment in the rule now it would be read as “Such grant shall be subject to the condition that the `widow’ or widower, shall, each month furnish to the Board a certificate in the form. On remarriage the grant shall cease forthwith.
It may be noted that an amount of Rs5 billion is lying in the fund, out of which 45608 beneficiaries, including 41,532 non-gazetted and 3,634 gazetted taking benefit.
