Delay in promotions irks policemen in KP

PESHAWAR: After the officers of the Provincial Management Service (PMS), the cops of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police also threatened to protest delay in promotions, sources said on Saturday.

The PMS officers in KP and other provinces have already moved the Peshawar High Court against the very foundations of the CSP rules and the amendments made during different times. They have staged protests many times to get due share in postings in senior grades.

“Now there is anger among the police officers of the provincial cadre. There are at least 27 provincial officers whose promotion to grade-18 is being delayed so the officers of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) can occupy their slots,” a source told The News.

He added the promotions were due in November last year but the Central Police Office was not holding the meeting of the departmental promotion committee despite the lapse of many months.

“Frustration is growing among the rankers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who are considering joining hands with the officers of the provincial management service for their due rights and share in senior grades. This fueled anger among the rankers of Punjab and other provinces after they were denied due rights and share in senior grades,” the source claimed.

A source said the issue of promotion was being delayed due to differences within the same batch of rankers over their seniority. It added that all of them wanted to be placed senior on one or the other ground and the PSP has hardly anything to do with the issue.

The rankers claimed 27 seats of provincial cadre had been vacant since November 20 while the DPC’s meeting was not being held on the ground that there were reservations among provincial officers.

“We all expressed the same reservations when a few officers from Malakand were promoted many months back but the CPO did not pay any heed then. Besides, how can an officer or few who have expressed reservations be given backdated seniority by any authority other than the courts to place them senior to those who were ahead in the seniority list for years,” questioned one of the ranker officers, pleading not to be named.

They claimed the officers of the PSP at CPO were not serious enough to settle the issues of their seniority while a few even want to pit them against each other so they can occupy their slots in grade-18.

“Rankers were always posted in smaller and troubled towns and divisions. Even currently the rankers are posted as DPOs in the most troubled and remote districts, including all newly merged districts (NMDs) except Khyber,” said a provincial officer.

The official said seven seats of grade-18 had been created in NMDs recently for the officers from these districts. “The fact is that there is no local officer even in grade 17 while a couple of them are in grade-16,” said the rankers.