PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly`s standing committee on law reforms has directed the establishment department to immediately withhold implementation of the structural changes in the provincial civil service, terming the action trespass in the domain of the august house, officials privy to the meeting told Dawn.

The house committee expressed deep concern over the introduction of vital structural changes in the provincial civil service with the intention to benefit the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), formerly known as District ManagementService (DMG), the officials said.

The committee meeting held on Tuesday night was chaired by Speaker Asad Qaisar and attended by senior minister Inayatullah Khan and MPAs Sikandar Sherpao, Qurban Ali Khan, Munawar Khan, Ms Meraj Hamayun and Aneesa Zaib Tahirkheli.

`The speaker directed the establishment department to stop implementation of new rules till the decision of the law reform committee,` one of the participants told this scribe.

A few days ago, the issue of structural changes in the provincial civil service was raised in the assembly by parliamentary leader of Qaumi Watan Party Sikandar Hayat Sherpao that was referred to the law reforms committeeon the house`s recommendations.

The meeting was also attended by the secretaries of the establishment, finance and law departments. The ofñce-bearers of the association of the provincial civil service also attended the meeting who informed the committee about the injustice with them in the new structural changes in the provincial service.

Mr Sherpao, who attended the meeting, told Dawn that the establishment department had changed the structure of the provincial service about one and a half months ago secretly without informing anyone in the government.

`The changes were also approved from the chief minister through a summary without taking the stakeholders onboard,` he said.

The QWP leader said that it was violation of the Article 240 (b) of the Constitution because making changes in provincial civil service was the domain of the provincial assembly.

Article 240 (b) states, `Subject to the Constitution, the appointment and the conditions of service of persons in the service of Pakistan shall be determined in case of the services of a province and posts in connection with the affairs of a province, by or under Act of the Provincial Assembly.

The law reforms committee was informed by the representatives of the provincial civil services that under the changed structure, they have been deprived of the posting as assistant com-missioner, assistant political agent and other field posts, the sources said. They said that as such only the PAS officers would be posted as ACs and APAs. They said that with the new changes the promotion of officers of the provincial service would be further delayed.

Mr Sherpao said that in response to the discussion secretary establishment Akhtar Nazir Waraich told the meeting that he was not a constitutional expert to say anything in this connection. He said that Mr Waraich also said that he had already conveyed the decision of the structuralchanges to the Establishment Division, Islamabad. However, the QWP leader quoted Mr Waraich as telling the meeting that a fresh summary wouldbe moved to withhold action on that decision.

Mr Qaiser also formed a sub-committee, to be chaired by MPA Aneesa Zaib Tahirkhell, to solve the issue amicably.

Other members in the sub-committee are secretaries of law and establishment departments, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general, two constitutional experts and office-bearers of the federal and provincial services.

The office-bearers of the provincial civil service urged the meeting to solve the issue as soon as possible otherwise over 600 officers in grade-17 and above would boycott the upcoming local government elections and the provincial budget making process, the sources said.