Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The officers of the Information group have decided to devise a strategy to resist any possible move of the incumbent government to appoint the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), from any other group, Daily Times has learnt.

Most of the junior officers who make up around 100 in strength were prepared to announce a pen-down strike when some senior and prominent officers of the information group intervened and convinced them to inform the government about their reservations.

The development surfaced after the officers got information through several sources that the government was going to appoint a District Management Group (DMG) service officer as the Secretary Ministry of I&B.

Earlier, Dr Aamir Ahmad, a BS-21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, presently posted as Additional Secretary, Commerce Division, had been transferred and posted as Additional Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Division.

However, the officer didn’t assume charge of his post due to some personal reservation regarding the notification, the sources revealed to this scribe.

This move also spread anxiety and frustration among the officers of the Information group that led to their unity to resist any such move in future.

The sources disclosed to Daily Times that a secret meeting of the officers of the Information Service Group was held in which the junior officers insisted on starting a pen-down strike against the government’s step to appoint an officer other then the same group, to the top slot of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

However, the senior most officers intervened and normalised the situation by convincing them that their reservations would be presented before the government in a befitting manner.

It was decided in the meeting that a delegation of this group would meet the government representatives in the coming days and would apprise them about the group reservations.

A senior officer who was present in the meeting told this scribe on condition of anonymity that officers of this group were already facing a delay in their promotions while on the other hand the government was appointing other officers of other groups in the
ministry.

The DPC, which was to be held on February 16, had been postponed due to the vacation of the post of the Secretary and Additional Secretary in the ministry, he said.

It seems, he said, the government had no confidence in this group’s officers and that is why it was choosing officers from other groups.

The officer asked “What work a DMG officer could do that we are not able to perform?”

During the meeting, the participants also agreed that the DMG service was the most easy and enjoyable job as compared to other groups where the officers had to be engaged all the time with office work. The Information group is a prominent example which is functional literally 24/7 that too without due recognition from the concerned quarters.

In this era of specialisation, there are several specialised service groups like Information, Commerce and Trade, Audit and Accounts, Police and Foreign Service etc, he said, adding that the officers of the specialised service group have a good command and knowledge in their respective fields and departments as compared to the others.

He said any group’s officer other than Information was unable to perform the responsibilities in an excellent way in the Information Ministry.

According to the sources, the participants also decided to activate the Information Group Officers Association (IGOA) to ensure the protection of their rights.