LAHORE: Promotions of hundreds of senior officers of the central government have been unduly blocked as the Central Selection Board has not held a single meeting this year.

Under the service rules, the selection board, which is responsible for considering and recommending promotions of officers in grades 19 and 20, is bound to hold two meetings a year. But despite a lapse of 10 months of this year, no meeting has been held, some of the affected officials said on Wednesday.

They said the last regular meeting of the board was held in December 2016. In the normal course, a meeting should have been held in the first half of 2017. But since none was held, promotions of hundreds of senior of ficers in grades 19 and 20 due for promotion on thebasis of ACRs have been blocked.

`A large number of senior officers with a brilliant record of service have in the meantime retired without getting the benefits of promotion, which was their right. In the given circumstances, those who still have three to five years of service ahead of them are in a state of suspense and unsure of their fate. This situation has caused frustration among senior officers affecting the quality of their service,` an official said.

The undue delay in holding a scheduled meeting of the Central Selection Board and blocl(ing the promotions of deserving officers was one of the many examples of the arbitrary methods to keep bureaucracy on a leash.

Deserving officers were bypassed while favourites with political connections unduly awarded, he alleged.