ISLAMABAD: A number of officers are planning to get posted out of the premier training institute for civil servants, several in-training officers disclosed.

It is said that the unsavoury situation developing at the Civil Services Academy (CSA) in Lahore was due to the behaviour of an officer leading the Administration and Capacity Building side of the training institute.

`Many staff and officers are thinking of quitting the academy because of Dr Mohammad Afzal,` one of the trainees said.

The probationers said that the director of the common training program, a Foreign Service officer who left lucrative foreign assignments to serve at the CSA, has decided to take up a long offered foreign assignment at the end of the 45th Common Training Program. The officer refused to comment when contacted.

Dr Afzal`s senior management course repon, shared with Dawn, recommends that the officer is not suitable to serve in a training institution. The report, signed by the dean of the National School of Public Policy, marks his unsuitability for posting at all types of civil service training institutes.

`It is time that the government woke up to this clear violation of principle and law, otherwise there is no chance of reforming the civil service especially when CSS qualifiers encounter violation of merit at the first step,` a trainee commented.

Another said the situation shows the importance attached to the training of the young officers.

CSA Rector Azmat Ranjha in written comments said: `The in-service trainings such as senior management course and national management course do make recommendations regarding suitability of officers for being assigned to training institutions such as CSA. In my understanding, the recommendations are not binding.

He added: `Considering that most officers are not attracted to serve on faculty positions as their core service domains offer better benefits and greater social recognition, HR deficiency is a constant challenge for most training institutions.

The officer completed the next level of training the national management course in 2016. Based on his performance in the course, he has not been considered unsuitable for assignments in training institutes, particularly the CSA.