Daily Times

The police arrested more than 77 government officials, including the Provincial Management Service Association’s (PMSA’s) office-bearers, who had gathered at the Punjab Civil Secretariat (PCS) to protest against the arrest of two section officers, Rana Ziaullah and Imran Sial. Those arrested included female officers, gazette officials, magistrates, sections officers, deputy secretaries and additional secretaries of provincial prime cadre. More than 700 officers came out to protest against the arrest of the two section officers. Mr Ziaullah and Mr Sial were arrested when they were distributing pamphlets calling for a strike on March 21 to protest against the illegal and unconstitutional Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Committee (IPCC) formula under which the District Management Group (DMG) has appropriated almost all the top positions of the province. They were detained for two hours.

It is quite surprising the way the Punjab government and the top order of the bureaucracy handled this issue. It is the democratic right of all citizens of Pakistan, including the civil services officers, to hold a peaceful protest. This right is enshrined in our constitution. Instead of addressing the grievances of the PMSA officers, arresting two section officers and later arresting more than 77 government officials does not make any sense and only shows the heavy-handedness of our authorities. Had the authorities allowed a peaceful protest, surely the heavans would not have fallen. Our authorities need to realise that suppressing dissent causes bad blood and is not the right way to go about handling such issues.

There is no doubt that the DMG is indeed hogging most positions in the country. The PMSA statement said that due to the IPCC formula, “a total of 800 DMG officers are usurping 65 percent posts of grade 21 in the provinces while more than 4,000 provincial officers have been given only 25 percent posts”. These statistics seem to be genuine and the Punjab government should examine them. Why is the DMG being given so much special treatment at the cost of creating anarchy in the bureaucratic circles? Favouritism is not good in any walk of life, be it personal or professional. The government should listen to the complaints of the PMSA officers and find a solution to this issue for a smooth running of the bureaucracy. *