The Ministry of Defence Production has opposed provision of similar strength of supporting staff to Federal Secretaries as is available to Corps Commanders, official sources told Business Recorder here on Monday.
Secretaries' committee in its meeting on July 28 last year, while considering the concept paper on reforming the government services submitted by the Chairman of National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR), Dr Ishrat Hussain, had asked Defence Production Secretary to prepare a comparative analysis on staff support available to Corps Commander and a Federal Secretary, and also to identify the factors enabling smooth functioning of the Federal Secretary.
Sources said that Defence Ministry did not support the proposal, arguing that the nature of Secretary's work was totally different from a Corps Commander. "Comparative analysis of staff support available to Corps Commander and a Federal Secretary is not possible because both are supposed to perform duties of different nature," sources quoted Ministry of Defence Production as saying in its comments.
They said that the Ministry of Defence Production was of the view that the issue should be left to NCGR, which is already pondering over this issue. Earlier, top bureaucracy had exerted pressure on the government to get same privileges after retirement as are being enjoyed by retired army generals.
Sources said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who has very close liaison with the top bureaucracy in running the government, had been requested to provide similar facilities to retired Federal Secretaries as were given by Punjab government to retired Chief Secretaries of the province.
They said that post-retirement (lifetime) facilities, which have been recommended for the federal secretaries, included services of a driver, to be appointed by a former retired secretary himself, services of a cook/naib qasid, security guard along with two prohibited and one non-prohibited bore licences, pick and drop services along with a staff car for three days and protocol on arrival at Islamabad airport.
While backing the proposal, sources said, the Cabinet Division had argued that federal secretaries constitute the highest level in civil administration and qualify for these privileges after a lifetime service and deserved a suitable package of facilities for them which was long overdue, sources added.
They further said that the Cabinet Division had also recommended that any other facility considered appropriate keeping in view the privileges available to equivalent officers in other organisations, like Defence.