PM approves MP Scale Positions

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister has approved MP Scale Positions for hiring of professionals/technocrats in ministries/divisions and attached departments, autonomous bodies at hefty pay and packages.

However, the maximum age limit for MP-I, MP-II and MP-III has been reduced to 62 years.

According to copy of official memorandum approved by the government stating that prime minister has been pleased to approve the Management Position Scales Policy, 2020, hereinafter referred to as "MP Scales Policy, 2020" for making appointments of highly skilled/qualified professionals from open market on tenure basis (contract) against MP Scale Positions in ministries/divisions, attached departments, subordinate offices, autonomous or semi-autonomous bodies (either statutory or otherwise), regulatory authorities, etc. as MP-I, MP-II and MP-III as determined by the Finance Division from time to time with approval of the prime minister.

Need Assessment: The identification of need is an essential requirement for hiring of management scale professionals. For ascertaining the need for hiring a management scale professional, following shall be clearly established:

The positions/posts against which the management scale professionals are required to be hired from open market should be identified clearly with due justification and expected outcome of hiring requisite human resources from open market.

The Finance Secretary, in consultation with Establishment Division, shall be empowered to approve creation of new MP Scale Position. The guiding principle for ministries/divisions should be that MP I Scale is meant for top tier, MP II Scale for second tier and MP III Scale for third tier of management positions in an organisation.

In all cases of all such appointments, specific ToRs will be developed by the ministries/divisions concerned featuring relevant qualification, experience, job descriptions with deliverable and timelines etc. keeping in view the needs, objectives and goals of the organisations.

Initial Recruitment: The following criteria shall be observed for recruitment:

i) Vacancies shall be widely advertised in the national press, principally appearing in at least two national dailies, one in English and other in Urdu, indicating the following:

Terms of Reference based on the needs, objectives & goals of the organization, job description, targets with timeline & deliverables job specifications e.g. educational qualifications, requisite experience in number of year, age bracket, etc. Tenure of appointment and pay package. The relevant field(s) of qualification and experience shall be specified by the concerned ministry/division for each position before the advertisement and shall be mentioned accordingly in the advertisement.

There shall be a scrutiny committee constituted with approval of the concerned administrative secretary as follows: An officer not below the rank of additional chairperson secretary (where there is no additional secretary, then senior JS or JS of the concerned division, head of HR Wing of concerned organisation member joint secretary/deputy secretary of the member cum secretary concerned division

iv. This scrutiny committee shall scrutinise applications and, based on the advertised criteria, prepare a list of all eligible candidates for interview by the selection committee constituted as per Schedule-I. There shall be no short-listing of eligible candidates and all candidates having basic eligibility as per advertised eligibility criteria will be called for interview by the selection committee.

The selection committee, after conducting the interviews, shall recommend to the appointing authority a panel of minimum three (3) suitable candidates for each position, in order of merit, for appointment against the position.

While submitting the case to the appointing authority, the necessary documents, e.g. sanction of post(s), advertisement, list of all eligible candidates duly signed by the scrutiny committee, original score sheet and minutes of the meeting of the selection committee duly signed shall invariably be annexed with the summary moved for the purpose.

The summary for the prime minister in the matter shall invariably be moved through Establishment Division, without fail, and in case of submission of an incomplete case, the Establishment Division shall have the powers to return the summary without seeking further orders of the prime minister.

Contract Extension: The appointment in MP Scales shall initially be for a period of three (3) years, which will be extendable for a maximum period of two (2) years on annual basis subject to satisfactory performance, evaluation of the incumbent by the Performance Evaluation Committee provided in Schedule-II.

All ministries/divisions shall invariably initiate cases for extension of the contract not less than three (3) months before the expiry of contract.

The cases for extension with less than three (3) months to the expiry of contract may not be entertained and the ministries should initiate the process of recruitment afresh as per procedure. In such cases, the ministries/divisions shall ensure the completion of the process before the expiry of the contract of the incumbent. The concerned ministries/divisions shall evaluate the performance of the employees in MP Scales annually as per criteria given in Schedule-II.

These Performance Evaluation Reports shall be placed before the Performance Evaluation Committee for review/consideration at the time of contract extension.

v). The Performance Evaluation Committee subject to satisfactory performance review of the incumbent may recommend to the appointing authority for extension in the contract of the incumbent.

Terms and Conditions: S No. Description MP-I MP-II MP-III required educational qualification and experience, PhD in relevant subjects with experience of 14 years or masters in relevant subjects with 18 years post qualification experience in the field. For MP-II, PhD in relevant subject(s) with 10 years experience or masters degree in relevant fields with 14 years experience and for MP-III the PhD in relevant subject (s) with 6 years post experience or masters in relevant subjects with experience of 10 years.

The minimum age limit for MP-1 Scale is 45 years and maximum age limit is 62 years. The minimum age limit for MP-II is 40 years and maximum age limit is 62 years and for MP-III the minimum age limit is 35 years and maximum 62 years.

The tenure of contract period will be 3 years further extendable for a maximum period of two (2) years on annual (yearly) basis subject to satisfactory performance.

In case of notice by the concerned ministry/division, it shall be after approval of the appointing authority. In case of proceedings under para-6 (viii & ix) of the policy ibid, the condition of one month's notice shall not be required.

Miscellaneous: Unless any other law/rules, for the time being in force, provided otherwise, regular civil servant/government servants shall not be substantively posted against MP Scale Positions.

Civil servants/government servants may, however, subject to eligibility, apply for these positions, through proper channel.

Subject to provisions of (i) above, in case a civil servant/government servant is selected through competitive process against any such position, he/she shall either resign from government service or seek early retirement, severing his/her connection/lien with their parent cadre/ministry/division/organisation, etc before joining the MP Scale Position.

The persons being employed under MP Scales shall submit to the government an affidavit declaring their non-involvement in any other relevant business/job, which may tantamount to conflict of interest.

The persons already employed on MP Scale Positions and are holding the MP Scale Position on the date of commencement of this policy, shall henceforth be governed under the MP Scales Policy, 2020 in all matters including but not limited to tenure, performance evaluation and contract extension, etc. as the case may be. The tenure of the incumbents in all such cases shall be reckoned from the date of their initial appointment on MP Scale whether made through competitive process or otherwise.

Current charge or additional charge of the positions of MP Scales may not be granted to any regular civil/government servants.

However, in cases of heads of autonomous bodies/semi-autonomous bodies, executive/attached department, regulatory authorities, corporations, commissions and companies etc where the situation necessitates, the additional charge may only be granted to a civil/government servant of equivalent grade as given in Schedule-III with approval of the appointing authority for a maximum period of three (3) months only.

No extra remuneration will be given to the officer holding the additional charge other than additional charge allowance as determined by Finance Division from time to time.

After completion of one tenure of 3/4/5 years, as the case may be, the incumbent shall be eligible to compete afresh against any MP Scale position, subject to meeting the advertised criteria.

Anytime during initial or extended tenure, the performance evaluation score of the incumbent falls in average or unsatisfactory category, the secretary of the division concerned/PAO may issue formal warnings to the incumbent MP-Scale holder.

If satisfied with the valid reasons (unsatisfactory performance or evidence of financial or moral turpitude against the incumbent), the concerned Secretary, if deems fit and after fulfilling the formalities of disciplinary proceedings, may initiate a summary seeking approval of the prime minister for pre-mature termination of contract through Establishment Division.

In case of financial corruption or any other criminal charge, the references may also be filed with the relevant law enforcement or anti-graft agencies.

Such person(s), who has been removed from government service or from an MP Scale Position due to unsatisfactory performance or on account of moral & financial turpitude, shall not be eligible to apply for any MP Scale position. All ministries/divisions shall inform Establishment Division of all such cases and Establishment Division shall maintain a negative list of all such disqualified persons, which shall be circulated amongst all concerned ministries/divisions, from time to time.

The policy shall only be applicable on statutory bodies, including regulatory authorities, in such cases, where recruitment rules or service regulations for such positions have not been prescribed under the respective statutes. Statutory authorities and other authorities/organisations shall also be allowed to adopt the instant policy, with approval of the authority competent to do so, while remaining within their statutory mandate.

The MP Scales shall also be used as benchmark scales for determination of terms and conditions of other positions in statutory bodies like FPSC, FST, Ogra, Nepra, etc., with approval of the respective authorities competent to approve terms and conditions of such posts. In such cases, the other provisions of the MP Scale Policy, 2020 shall not apply.

All previous office memorandums/policy instructions, issued by Finance and Establishment Divisions from time to time relating to MP Scale Positions, shall stand repealed with immediate effect, in so far as these are inconsistent with the MP Scale Policy, 2020.