KARACHI, Jan 28: Dealing a serious blow to the criteria of merit and seniority, a number of recently appointed KWSB revenue department officials who have not yet completed their confirmation periods have been promoted to higher grades, leading to great resentment amongst more senior but bypassed officials of the organisation’s accounts, finance and administration departments.
After the rapid and out-of-turn promotions, a number of these senior officials who have been working in grades 16, 17 and 18 for many years have now been rendered junior to people who were appointed only a couple of months ago.
Quoting an office order issued on Jan 21, insiders told Dawn that in pursuance of Notification No. SOVIII/KW&SB/1 (20)/2004/94, dated 7th January, 2008, and endorsed by the KWSB managing director vide No 34/L (dated 10.01.2008), as many as 66 officers of grades 16, 17, 18 – including those recruited by the water utility only two months ago – have been re-designated with effect from Jan 7, 2008, and upgraded by one step to grades 17, 18 and 19 respectively.
The officials have been re-designated as district officers (DOs), deputy district officers (DDOs) and assistant district officers (ADOs). Sources said that four of these officials have been promoted from BS-18 to BS-19 while 33 have been promoted from BS-17 to BS-18 and 29 officials have been promoted from BS-16 to BS-17.
The sources conceded that these measures had been taken to bring an end to the anomalies that existed in the designations of officials of the different groups of offices of the city district government, particularly after the KWSB was declared the 15th group of the CDGK offices. However, they pointed out, further disparities have now been created within the KWSB itself since the provincial government’s recent approval for promotions was limited to the KWSB revenue department. As a result, over 25 senior officers of the organisation’s accounts, administration and finance department had been bypassed.
It was explained that with a view towards bringing about uniformity in the designations of the officers of all the CDGK’s groups of offices, the Sindh government re-designated KWSB’s directors, deputy directors and assistant directors as district officers, deputy district officers and assistant district officers. However, said the sources, this move had been applied solely to officers of the KWSB revenue department, and that too on a pick-and-choose basis.
Discrimination worries
Much resentment has been created by the fact that the KWSB had, on the one hand, promoted and re-designated even those officers who were appointed a mere two months ago, and on the other discriminated against an estimated 25 senior officers of the KWSB accounts, administration and finance departments although they had been serving the organisation for a number of years.
Accusing the KWSB of tampering with the provincial government’s letter through which approval was given for the re-designations, sources maintained that the Sindh government and the KWSB’s lists of the officers to be promoted differed, since not only did the latter’s list contain the names of a number of recently appointed officials, but also gave the designation of a grade 18 officer as director when in fact, he had been working as chief revenue officer.
They told Dawn that now, except for the KWSB managing director and around 25 officers of the accounts, finance and administration departments, nearly all KWSB officers had been re-designated as district officers, deputy district officers and assistant district officers. They added that such steps were in line with the devolution plan as the posts mentioned in the KWSB’s budget documents for the current financial year.
Therefore, said the sources, only the managing director’s post remains to be brought on a par with the heads of the CDGK’s other groups of offices by re-designating it the executive district officer (EDO), and the officers in the accounts, administration and finance departments need to be re-designated DO, DDO and ADO under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance under which a new system of local bodies was created in 2001.
They further pointed out that the nomenclature of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, which had already been changed from the KWSB to the Water and Sanitation Department (W&S) after the utility service was declared the 15th of the CDGK’s group of offices, is yet to be mentioned in official documents and correspondence.
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