National Assembly Secretariat employees resent changes in promotion rules

There is resentment among the employees of the National Assembly Secretariat over changes in promotion rules, while some appreciate the changes saying that it will help improve the performance of the Secretariat. According to the sources, many promotions of Upper Division Clerk, Lower Division Clerk, Assistants, Superintendents and others are due for last many years.
Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Saddiq, after taking charge, started work to bring reforms in the National Assembly Secretariat for capacity-building. For this purpose, some amendments were made in promotion rules. The sources said that four conditions were added in the rules including i) five year experience ii) seniority and fitness iii) test of general knowledge and English and iv) job descriptive (noting, drafting, filing work skill etc) test.
After amending the rules, Speaker National Assembly issued a circulation asking the employees from grade 1 to 22 to participate in a meeting held last Thursday in Committee Room 2. The room was packed with the employees of the National Assembly Secretariat. The Speaker announced the rules in the meeting and said that if any employee had objections on the rules, he/she could summit them within three days (Friday, Monday and Tuesday).
The sources said that according to rules, 50 percent employees would be promoted and 50 percent would be recruited for any of the posts. The Speaker has also given directives that no employee will go out of the Parliament building without the permission in writing (description) of his/her boss during working hours. If any employee will go out of the parliament, he/she has to show permission slip to gatekeeper.
During a visit to the Secretariat, employees expressed serious concern over the proposed changes. Many employees including assistants, superintendents, LDCs, UDCs and other gathered in front of the office of Additional Secretary (Admn) National Assembly to express their concern over the change in the rules, but they were not given time to meet the Additional Secretary. The employees were asked to come at 11:00 am on Monday for the meeting.
They said that they had 15 to 20 years of experience and now they were asked to appear in test for promotion. Some employees said that it was a positive step for improvement of the performance of the department. When contacted, Deputy Director Media Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal said that the Speaker of the National Assembly held a series of meetings with every department of the Secretariat before formulating the rules. He said that the Speaker discussed the rules in the meetings and listened to their grievances. He said that new appointments and promotion would be made through Federal Public Services Commission. He said that in the past, many appointments were made on political basis and Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Saddique wanted to end this practice.