The government has prepared a draft in the Federal Civil Service Act that will have a term of office of the secretary and the chief secretary for 2.2 years.  According to the draft made public on Thursday, there is also a provision to open entry into the executive post like secretary in the civil service from outside after checking the efficiency. 

The draft states, 'The government may make special arrangements for open or random entry into any executive or specialist post in the civil service by conducting a performance-based or functional experimental test.' According to the draft, there is a provision for both levels and ranks of employees.  The term of office of the thirteenth (secretary) and fourteenth (chief secretary) levels will be 2.2 years. 

The government has made a provision in the draft that the term of office of the thirteenth level can be extended by a maximum of one year based on efficiency.  Based on that, the government will have the discretion to extend the term of office of the secretary by one year.  Under the reservation, a person will be able to avail the facility only once in a gazetted post. The public service will not be allowed to proceed with the provision of filling posts without confirming the reservation from the central records. According to the draft, employees of the gazetted third class officer will not be transferred or initially reinstated without completing a minimum period of one year and given the responsibility of the head of the office.

The draft states that a Civil Service Board will be formed to make the transfer, posting or career management of employees up to the gazetted second class (undersecretary) accountable. It has been provided that civil servants will not be allowed to teach in preparatory classes for the public service. An employee who has resigned or retired from a gazetted special or first class post of the federal civil service or other government service will not be appointed to any constitutional, diplomatic or other government post until a period of two years has elapsed from the date of acceptance of the resignation or retirement from the service.

In the past, the Civil Service Bill was stalled in the parliament due to the controversy over whether or not to have a cooling period. This time too, a cooling period has been proposed. The draft states that the government can manage employees in a mixed manner in level-level bodies to promote cooperation between the union, provinces and local levels.

Chief Administrative Officers will be sent to the Chief Minister's Office at the provincial level and will be posted at the local level. This provision was also mentioned in the previous Civil Service Bill. The draft states that employees should not engage in any activity that conflicts or may conflict with their personal, family, professional or financial interests while exercising their position, authority or responsibilities. This is said to be a conflict of interest.

Performance and Evaluation

The draft emphasizes the performance and evaluation of employees. The evaluation of performance will be based on indicators. The draft also mentions that institutional results and achievements will be considered. While evaluating employees working in service delivery agencies, the score for the feedback of the service recipient has also been made mandatory. In the evaluation of employees, scores will be given based on the recommendation of the Ethics Review Unit. The unit will link the employee's profile and grade them based on the evaluation score. Earlier, evaluation was done at three levels including the supervisor and reviewer, but now it will be done at two levels based on the performance agreement between the supervisor and the employee. A maximum of three-member evaluation committee will be formed, consisting of the senior most officer.

It has been arranged that if a person does not go to remote geographical areas and places where the post of Chief Administrative Officer is located, he will not be a potential candidate for promotion. Ministry employees have said that this provision will help in stopping the trend of not having Chief Administrative Officers at the local level. Performance agreements will be signed annually with the special category of the gazetted secretary, joint secretary, departmental head, office head and project head. Qualification criteria including key performance indicators will have to be prepared to appoint the most qualified employees in the appointment of joint secretary, departmental head, office head and project head. Review and evaluation of performance agreements will be done quarterly and the results will be published publicly.

Transfer and posting

A Civil Service Board will be established to make the transfer, posting and career management of civil servants up to the second grade of the gazetted civil service accountable. The minimum period of stay after transfer will be implemented compulsorily. If both husband and wife are working in the civil service to take care of an elderly father, mother, mother-in-law, father-in-law or any family member who is disabled, handicapped or suffering from a complex or long-term illness, one of them may be transferred or posted to a place where care is required. The transferred employees will have to report to the assigned office within seven days. All work related to transfer, posting or assignment will be done through an information technology-based system.

Gazetted civil servants of the second and third classes will not be transferred inter-ministerially before completing three years, and assistant-level employees will not be transferred inter-ministerially before completing four years. Minimum and maximum periods will be specified while transferring. No employee will be allowed to stay in the same post and same responsibility in the same office for more than four years. Employees will be transferred or posted on a cyclical basis for a minimum period so that they gain experience in service delivery, policy implementation and policy formulation in the office or body. No more than thirty percent of inter-ministerial transfers will be made in a financial year. Civil servants who have achieved high academic achievements in specialized subjects from prestigious universities or research centers will be given priority to work in their field of expertise.