PESHAWAR, Nov 11: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government`s reluctance to promote its BPS-16 employees working as private secretaries/personal assistants to provincial management services posts of BPS-17 has caused resentment among members of the affected employees` representative association.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa civil secretariat private secretaries, personal assistants and stenographers association, Peshawar, would hold a protest demonstration in front of the office of the provincial chief secretary Arbab Shahzad if the government continued to ignore a notification issued in October last year, the association`s president Anwar Khan Banvi told Dawn.

`We will stop working and bring the official work at a complete halt if the October 2012 notification is not implemented in letter and spirit,` said Mr Banvi, adding that the association has also taken up the issue with the chief secretary in a detailed letter dated Nov 4, 2013.The previous provincial government, the association`s secretary information Mohammad Hayat told Dawn, made changes to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Management Service Rules, 2007, and specified a fixed quota for private secretaries/personal assistants for their promotion from BPS 16 to PMS-17 posts.

The notification, dated Oct 4, 2012, was issued in line with an agreement between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Secretariat Private Secretaries, Personal Assistants and Stenographers Association, Peshawar and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Secretariat Superintendents Association.

As per the agreement, according to Mr Banvi, the two associations decided to resolve their longstanding differences andshare 20 percentquotaforpromotion to PMS-17 posts on 60:40 basis.

According to the agreement, 12 per cent of the quota (of the 20 per cent) was specified for eligible superintendents and against the remaining eight per cent seats (out of the 20 per cent)private secretaries and personal assistants were to be promoted to PMS-17 posts.

The Oct 4, 2012 notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn, also mentioned the new scheme of sharing the 20 per cent of PMS-17 among the eligible members of the two associations on the basis of 12 per cent and eight per cent.

`In total disregard to the notification, the provincial bureaucracy did not consider for promotion to PMS-17 posts private secretaries/personal assistants when on two occasions the selection board was assigned to take a look at the eligible candidates and fill the PMS-17 posts against the 20 quota, said Mr Banvi.

`We humbly request the provincial chief minister Pervez Khattak, chief secretary Arbab Shahzad, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf`s chief Imran Khan to have a kind look at our right of promotion and protect us against the discrimination and deprivation we have been subjected to,` said Mr Banvi.