He said that the transfer and posting policy of the present Punjab government is “completely interference-free”         Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman can be seen in this screengrab. — Facebook/Chief Secretary Punjab/file

ISLAMABAD: Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Zaman has said that appointments in the provincial bureaucracy are now 100pc depoliticised and being made on merit without any external interference, and those officials seeking external influences in service matters are marked red.

Talking to The News, he said that the transfer and posting policy of the present Punjab government is “completely interference-free”. The chief secretary said that no recommendation, interference or reference from any side including politicians, belonging to all political parties including ruling PMLN, is accepted in matters relating to postings and transfer of government servants.

Zaman explained that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz personally interviews and selects officers against all important positions, whether in the field or provincial secretariat. The chief secretary said that the Services & General Administration Department (S&GAD) put up a panel of three officers against each post and the chief minister selects one out of the panel based on the officer’s past performance and the interview. “No appointment is made outside the panel recommended by authorities,” Zaman said, adding that those using their connections to get choice postings are dropped by the chief minister from the panel and are marked red.

Presently, however, no disciplinary action is being taken against such officers for inviting external influence in service matters, which is considered “misconduct” under the civil service rules. Zaman said that this is unbelievable for many in the bureaucracy, which has been plagued by decades-long politicization during successive governments.

When asked about his input as chief secretary of the province and that of the S&GAD in posting and transfer of officers, he said in all cases they give their input. The S&GAD moves a panel of three most suitable candidates against each post in all cases. To a question whether any instructions in writing have been issued by the government to depoliticize the bureaucracy or warn the bureaucrats from inviting external influences in service matters, Zaman said, “We are marking them red”.

For many in the bureaucracy, what the chief secretary Punjab says is unbelievable because of decades-long politicization of the bureaucracy, including the police. According to a senior bureaucrat serving in the federal government, only time will tell how long the chief minister Punjab sticks to her policy of depoliticizing the bureaucracy. The source, however, said that if the Punjab government succeeds in making merit-based appointments without accepting any external influences, it will be a great change towards good governance and better service delivery. He said that many rulers in the past have been promising to bring an end to political interference in the service matters of civilian bureaucracy but most of them failed and succumbed to pressures of influential politicians and others.

Interestingly, depoliticization of the civilian bureaucracy, including the police, has been a part of election manifesto of almost all political parties but none of them, including the PMLN, PPP and the PTI, did it during their tenures in the past.

The Charter of Democracy, which was signed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in 2006, also promised neutral civil service but neither the PPP nor PMLN during their past governments fulfilled this commitment. Instead, the politicization of civilian bureaucracy has been on the rise.