There is a causal relationship between a worker’s happiness and his or her productivity. What makes an employee happy depends upon his or her needs, which may range from a job best suited to one’s personal inclination and attractive salary packages to a friendly work environment. Nevertheless, what matters more is discrimination — either real or perceived — amongst the employees. This is at the heart of the concerns of the Provincial Management Services (PMS) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for some time now. Some 600 PMS officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe that they are discriminated against, in favour of their federal counterparts from the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) — some 100 officers — posted in the province. One issue is departmental promotion. A PMS officer showed me an application written to the speaker of the provincial assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the condition of anonymity, which shows that the proportion of PMS officers dwindles along the promotion ladder: from 75 percent in grade 17 to zero in grade 22. In other words, the chief secretary, who is a grade 22 PAS officer, cannot be from the provincial bureaucracy. The PMS officials contest the promotional formula not only on the basis of its alleged discrimination, but also because it is unconstitutional. PMS officers contend that since the provincial assembly is the authority charged with formulating the rules of provincial services as per Article 240 (b) of the Constitution, the fact that the above formula of promotion was devised by an interim setup in the absence of an assembly in 1993, renders it null and void. Moreover, while devising the formula, only PAS officers were consulted, the plea argues. Another concern of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial bureaucracy relates to the complete denial of field posting on the one hand and the additional one year in-service training required for the PMS officers on the other. Put differently, field postings — the most sought after assignments among bureaucrats — would remain exclusively allocated to PAS officers. PMS officials say that a summary has been moved by the establishment department to that effect. The appointment of all political agents in the seven tribal agencies from the PAS contradicts the rules, as per presidential order number 13 of 1972. Under that order, the provision of human resources for the administration of FATA is the domain of the provincial government, as a PMS Officer argued. One PMS officer alleged that the PTI chief, Imran Khan, is responsible for giving preference to officers from PAS rather than anyone from the provincial government. “Being under the influence of retired PAS officers, Khan is relying exclusively on them to the detriment of provincial bureaucracy,” argued another officer. If this allegation is true, it is not a good omen for democracy. Khan’s alleged reliance on superior bureaucracy is reminiscent of British colonial rule and harks back to the first decade of Pakistan’s existence when bureaucracy would call the shots, undermining the nascent political system. Bureaucracy is important in its own right in the implementation of law but its role should not extend beyond its lawful mandate, which is how various institutions begin to clash with one another. Affecting the delivery of services, this practice does not bode well for either democracy or the country as a whole. Whether the concerns of the PMS officers are genuine is a moot point; the fact that they feel aggrieved should be taken seriously. The fact that they are citizens of Pakistan entitles them to voice their concerns and have fair hearings. Additionally, the PMS officers’ case is a special one because, being in a position of authority to execute government’s decisions, they may become lax in the performance of their duties. Doing so would obviously affect the public good and it would surely be the people who would suffer the most. Being in the midst of a war against militancy, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is in no position to afford such a risk. There is a desperate need to resolve this issue immediately. As per article 240 (b) of the Constitution, the provincial assembly is the authority charged with the “appointments to and the conditions of service of persons in the service of Pakistan”. A legal solution anchored in the law of the land should prevail. The writer is a freelance journalist based in Quetta. He can be reached at fkakar85@gmail.com or followed on Twitter @mughtian