KARACHI, Jan 16: The draft of an ordinance to delete Section 9(a) of the Civil Servants Act 1973, pertaining to out-of-turn promotions, has landed in the provincial law department, it was reliably learnt here on Tuesday.

The draft was prepared by the services and general administration and coordination department on the directive of the Sindh government. The caretaker cabinet in its meeting held on December 27, 2007 had decided to delete the section pertaining to out-of-turn promotions for the civil servants of the province.

It was brought to the cabinet’s notice that the section providing out-of-turn promotions was creating resentment amongst officials, adversely affecting the service discipline and damaging the concept of good governance.

The section has been agitated since its inception by senior civil servants as it empowers the chief minister of Sindh to give any officer an out-of-turn promotion superseding the seniority of other officials. The sources said that this law had been in existence in Sindh only as in no other province the chief minister enjoyed such discretionary powers.

They said that this section had been misused by successive chief ministers to promote officials who were found obliging him beyond the call of duty. The practice, they said, was found creating a coterie of hangers-on in the services, thus marring the principle of merit and affecting the governance. Instead of ensuring the rule of law, the officials appeared more determined to please the chief minister that affected the writ of the government, they added.

The caretaker government decided to delete the section from the law in order to improve the efficiency of its officials and ensure good governance in the province. According to some well-informed sources, the law department has already reviewed the draft, which is likely to be submitted to caretaker chief minister Justice (retired) Abdul Qadir Halepota by the law department within the next few days for approval.