LAHORE: The Punjab government on Saturday lifted the ban on transfers and postings of government officials which had been imposed under the chief minister’s directive of August 25, 2019.
Pakistan Today has learnt that transfers and postings can now be made on administrative grounds against vacant and operational needs.
The notification issued by the principal secretary to the chief minister, Iftikhar Ali Sahoo in this regard stated, “In partial modification of this office directive of even number dated 25.08.2019 on the subject cited above (copy enclosed), Chief Minister, Punjab has been pleased to approve that officers authorized for making transfer/ posting as per Punjab Government Rules of Business 2011 shall exercise their powers on following grounds: Administrative grounds, against vacant post, operational necessity. The chief minister has further desired that transferring authorities shall ensure that suitably qualified officers having requisite experience and competence are posted against important positions to improve the functioning of Government Departments.”
It is pertinent to mention here that under the ban imposed on postings and transfers by the chief minister in August, transfer and postings could only be made in case of extreme hardship or compassionate or administrative grounds with the approval of the CM through a summary of tenure of the concerned official and the vacancy or position.
Government servants have welcomed this development as it has opened the door for transfers and postings after a period of over four months.
A grade 18 official speaking on the condition of anonymity said, “I am grateful to the CM for making this decision as I was very concerned about where my job was headed.”
“I had applied for a new posting but due to the ban imposed in August, serious hurdles had been created in the way of my career,” he said.
Another official said that the reason why government servants look forward to deputations, postings and transfers is that it gets them allowances.
“With inflation on the rise and the economy in bad shape, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to make ends meet on these meagre salaries. This time the government did not make any substantial increase in salaries; which is one reason why many officers had applied for postings,” he said.
Another government official said that transfer posting enabled officials to gain more experience and work various departments in different parts of the province.
