Government of Pakistan, Cabinet Secretariat Establishment Division has issued a Notification on 09-04-2021 in connection with Clarification About the Look After Charge. Further detail is as under;
Look After Charge Clarification
The undersigned is directed to refer to the subject cited and to say that a number of instances have come to the notice of Establishment Division where the Ministries/Divisions have been found indulging in the practice of assigning look after charge of the higher post to an officer during the absence its actual incumbent which causes administrative/financial inconvenience.
- In this context it is clarified that there is no provision of look after charge in Civil Servants Act, 1973 and Rules made thereunder, rathe an officer can be deputed temporarily as an internal arrangement to look after the work of another post for disposal of day to day work of urgent and routine nature in the Ministry/Division/Organization concerned. Nature of Duty and LAC
- As a matter of principle, the senior-most officer is normally asked by the head of the Division/Department to look after the work of a post when its incumbent is temporarily away. Regarding the decision-making process, there may be certain issues that are of Quasi-Judicial nature and decisions cannot be taken by an officer, not formally designation to exercise those powers. Likewise, certain financial and administrative powers can only be exercised by an officer to whom additional/ current charge of the post is entrusted in the prescribed manner. An Officer looking after the work cannot exercise such pawers as he has not been delegated with such powers by the
competent authority. As regards day-to-day decisions, these can be taken by an officer looking after the work and
can also be reviewed/revised by the head of the Organization depending upon the merit of the case.
