FT – Planning & Development

Section Details

Description

Guidelines

Forms (Mandatory)

Foreign Training Section deals with all sorts of abroad seminars, ministerial meetings, visits, study tours, short and long term training for Master/Ph.D. fellowship/scholarship and educational programs for the Provincial Government officers.
Foreign Trainings are offered by International sponsors/organizations.
The task of the Foreign Training Section is to process nomination documents of the officers from respective attached Departments and after the approval of competent authority, nominations are submitted to the Federal Government for further processing.
Most of the local training activities are approved under various projects/programs being implemented by the Federal and Provincial Government with financial support from the sponsor.
Foreign Training Section is responsible for providing technical assistance to Provincial attached Government departments and to process the cases in light of methodology/eligibility criteria as fixed by Donors for various training programs and visits abroad.
Targets are successfully achieved because this section is always in close liaison and coordination with the Federal Government as well as Provincial Departments. Timely decisions are taken by the competent authority and quick performance by this section; foreign training opportunities are availed by all the provincial officers of administrative departments.

THE KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURE FOR OVERSEAS TRAINING & VISITS, 2008.

Notification No: SOFT/P&D/092/GEN-04/2008 Dated Peshawar the 27-10-2008. The ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Guidelines and Procedure for Overseas Training and Visits – 2008’ issues with the approval of Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and shall take immediate effect.

EXTEN

These ‘Guidelines and Procedure’ shall apply to processing of all nominations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for overseas trainings, fellowships and study tours and to visits abroad for participation in International Seminars, Workshops and Symposium under any foreign sponsored scheme/programme or any facility under a development programme/project duly approved by the competent authority.
These Guidelines and Procedures, however, shall not obviate compliance with requirements under any Law of the Country or any administrative / financial rules in force.
These Guidelines and Procedure draw upon the instructions and guidelines issued by the Government of Pakistan from time to time, and describe the internal procedures for processing within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Any conflict in context of Para 3 and 4 shall be referred through the Additional Chief Secretary, Planning & Development Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the Chief Secretary, whose decision thereon shall be final.

CO-ORDINATING DEPARTMENT

In pursuance of Rule 7 of Schedule-II under the heading ‘Planning & Development Department’ of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rules of Business – 1985, as amended from time to time the Planning & Development Department shall Co-ordinate all cases of overseas training and visits as identified in para-2 – 4 above.
All departments shall communicate with Economic Affairs Division, Islamabad / Federal Technical Ministries and foreign donors / sponsors with respect to any issue relating to overseas training and visits, only through the Planning & Development Department.

PROVINCIAL SELECTION COMMITTEE.

There shall be a Provincial Selection Committee (PSC) as below for the purpose of review and selection of provincial nominees for overseas training, tours and visits.

Additional Chief Secretary	Chairman
Secretary Establishment	Member
Secretary P&DD	Member /Secy
Admn Secretary concerned	Member

Unless deemed necessary otherwise, the PSC shall consider cases through circulation. Working paper for the committee shall be prepared and circulated by the Secretary of the Committee or in his absence by his next supporting officer. A PSC member should ordinarily attempt not to detain a working paper for more than 2 working days after receipt. Cases of immediate nature should be disposed off on the same day.
All cases of overseas training and visits abroad shall be placed before the PSC subject to the following:

1	In cases where the nomination has been proposed by the administrative department reference to administrative secretary as Member PSC would not be necessary.
2	Except in cases of officers of the All Pakistan Unified Grades (APUG), Federal Unified Grades (FUG) and Provincial Civil Services (PCS) – Executive and Secretariat and Provincial Management Service (PMS), reference to Secretary Establishment Department as member PSC shall not be necessary.
3	Cases pertaining to seminar / workshops, study tours visits, symposia, etc, and others whose duration is not more than 4 weeks shall not be circulated among the PSC members. Such cases shall be submitted by the Secretary Planning & Development Department directly to the Additional Chief Secretary or the Chief Secretary, as the case may be, for approval.
4	In the case of ad-hoc offers received from the Central Government often very little time is given for making selections by the Economic Affairs Division or the Central Ministry concerned. In order to avoid lapse of such facilities, the Chairman of the Provincial Selection Committee shall be authorized to make selection from the nominations made by the Provincial Department(s) on ad-hoc basis subject to the confirmation of selection by the Provincial Selection Committee. This would only apply where there is not sufficient time to process the case normally through the Committee.

AUTHORITY FOR APPROVAL

Subject to guidelines and procedures for processing of cases laid down elsewhere in text “Authority for Approval” of nominations for ‘Overseas Training and Visits’ shall vest as below:

i.	ACS P&D, Admn Secys, SMBR, MBR, PPO, Special Secys, Commissioners, Addl IGs, DIGs, DCOs, DPOs	Chief Secretary with approval of the Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, if deemed necessary
ii.	ACS FATA, Political Agents.	Chief Secretary, with approval of the Governor, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, if deemed necessary
iii.	Other APUG & PCS/PMS officers in BS-19 & above	Chief Secretary
iv.	All other officers in BS-17 and above	Additional Chief Secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
v.	BS-16 & below officials	Administrative Secretary concerned

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Para 11 above, Chief Secretary may call up any or all cases for examination and submission to the Governor / Chief Minister for orders whenever circumstances warrant in public interest.

PROCESSING OF CASES

Ordinarily Planning & Development Department shall process only such facilities which are received through the Economic Affairs Division or a Technical Ministry of the Federal Government. Nominations against facilities under Provincial Development Projects approved by the competent authority may be processed by Planning & Development Department but nominations will be subject to clearance of the Economic Affairs Division and / or Federal Technical Ministry as required under the rules.
The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will not entertain any nominations if they are received from foreign mission / donors / private parties by name in the favour of particular officers. The PSC and the Administrative Departments should discourage attempts by officers to maneuver facilities for themselves with foreign donors / agencies.
On receipt of a facility, the Planning & Development Department shall analyze it and circulate it to all the relevant departments and agencies of the Provincial Government. The nominating department should ensure that relevant officers are nominated for courses, keeping in view the requirements of the course. The nominating department would be held responsible if irrelevant nominations are made or which do not fit the requirements of the course.
Development related facilities shall be circulated to all departments. The departments should ensure that people relating to development planning are nominated against such facilities.
Departments should preferably give a panel of names for each facility indicating preference on principal and alternate nominees. The Planning & Development Department or the PSC members may indicate their recommendations with reference to principal and alternate candidates, while the file is in circulation. Final decision will be made by the Chief Secretary or the Additional Chief Secretary, as the case may be.
Departments shall send nominations directly to the Training Section in the Planning & Development Department, complete with all details. The Planning & Development Department shall scrutinize the nominations and return those incomplete or irrelevant back to the Administrative Department. If the administrative department does not agree with the return of any nomination on any grounds a reference may be made to the Planning & Development Department giving clarifications, reasons or certification where required by the Planning & Development Department. In such circumstances the case will be processed along with the observations of the Training Section of the Planning & Development Department for decision of the PSC. Where more than one Department is nominating its officers against a facility, the Planning & Development Department may, in the working paper, give its recommendation, with reasons, on principal and alternate candidates.
After detailed scrutiny, the Planning & Development Department shall prepare a working paper for circulation to all members of the PSC for approval and to the Chief Secretary for final concurrence in case of categories of officers outlined in Para 11 above.
If any member of the PSC sustains disagreement on the recommendations / nominees, he should note his dissenting observation and pass the file to the next member of the PSC rather than retaining it or returning to Training Section of the Planning & Development Department. All cases of circulation will be sent by the last signing member to the Additional Chief Secretary or the Chief Secretary, as the case may be, under Para 11 for his approval. The case may however, be sent to the Secretary of the Administrative Department for any clarification / reply on file before forwarding to the next member or the Additional Chief Secretary / Chief Secretary in light of Para 11 for final approval.
In order to enable the Provincial Selection Committee to properly examine the merits of the nominated candidates, to observe necessary formalities and to ensure that sufficient time is subsequently available for the Nominating Department to satisfactorily answer any query raised by the Committee, proposals for the selection of candidates should be made as far as possible by the Nominating Department at least [4] weeks before the scheduled closing date for submission to the Economic Affairs Division.

ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATIONS

All government employees appointed on regular basis shall be eligible for nomination provided that:

1	The training is relevant to the position they are holding or the job they are performing.
2	They are likely to return to the post.
3	They are within the prescribed age limit.
4	No disciplinary action has been taken against them in the last 3 years; nor is disciplinary action or an enquiry pending against him.
5	They are not involved in any criminal proceedings.
6	They fulfill the specific requirements of the facility.

The departments must ensure that candidates who fulfill the specific requirement of a course, such as academic background, experience, age, etc, are nominated. In case where no age limits have been specifically prescribed, the following upper age limits shall apply.

Course of more than 3 months	50 years
Course of less than 3 months	57 years
Seminars, visits, tours, symposia, Conferences, workshops, etc.	No limit

Departments must ensure that service record of the nominees is good. To this end, the nominees should have good or above PER grading in the preceding three years. Where such officers are not available or they have availed such facilities before, a person with two good and one average PER in the three preceding years of service may be nominated. Officers having even one PER below average in the preceding three years shall not be eligible in any case.
Government employees with at least three years service should be eligible for nomination to trainings.

ELIGIBILITY OF DEPUTATIONISTS EMPLOYEES FOR NOMINATION.

Deputation employees will be eligible for training abroad provided that where deputation employees are nominated, the department concerned should certify that no regular employee was available who fulfilled the specific requirements of the course.

OTHER GUIDELINES FOR NOMINATION

a	No candidate should be recommended for more than one training programme at a time.
b	No candidate shall be considered for any training facility within three years of his return from his last training. However, in accordance with the rules laid down by the Federal Government all foreign training of less than 3 months, would be exempted from the scope of the general rule pertaining to a second training.
c	The question of career planning should also be borne in mind by the Administrative Department as well as the PSC, so that officers trained for a particular line should stay in that line for a reasonable period of time on return from training in order to impart the knowledge that they have gained. The Committee would attempt to ensure that suitable career planning of the persons sent abroad for training is duly followed in cooperation with Establishment & Administration Department and the Nominating Department. The question of career planning should also be borne in mind by the Administrative Department as well as the PSC, so that officers trained for a particular line should stay in that line for reasonable period of time on return from training in order to impart the knowledge that they have gained. The Committee would attempt to ensure that suitable career planning of the persons sent abroad for training is duly followed incorporation with Establishment & Administration Department and the Nominating Department.

DISQUALIFICATIONS / INELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION

The following categories of officers shall not be eligible for foreign training:

a	Employees who are above the prescribed age limits.
b	Employees against whom criminal or disciplinary proceedings are pending.
c	Employees having an unsatisfactory record of service.
d	Employees who have availed a course of more than three months shall not be eligible for another long course within three years of return from such training. Courses of less than three months are, however, exempt from these conditions.
e	Incomplete Papers.
f	Do not fulfill the specific requirements of the facility.
g	A Government servant who fails to avail of a training facility for which he has been duly nominated by the Provincial Government without any valid reason, would be debarred from future training for a period of 3 years.
h	Deputationists employees except as eligible under Para 26.
i	Those who have solicited nominations from foreign donors.

Relaxation of the condition at para 28(d) above shall only be allowed by the Chief Secretary on case to case basis. The department concerned should obtain relaxation from the Chief Secretary at their level, a copy of which may be sent to the Planning & Development Department alongwith nominations.

OBLIGATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR NOMINEES

Government servants are required to serve the Government for the prescribed minimum period after completion of the training abroad. Those who have been under training for a period of less than one year will be required to serve for a minimum period of three years while those whose period of training exceeds one year will have to serve the Government for a period of five years in the same field or similar field in which they were trained. For this purpose all candidates must furnish a bond before proceedings on training abroad.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING VISITS ABROAD OF GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES ON PROJECT FUNDS.

a	Project loans should only be used, where training is concerned, on providing such provisions where the training is related to delivery of output from the completed facilities.
b	The training facilities must form a part of the approved PC-I or the annual work plan.
c	Where similar training can be provided within Pakistan it should received preference.
d	If there are savings generated in a project due to currency factors or other reasons, the incremental amount must go into providing additional facilities or service, rather than training.
e	Only technical visits should be supported from loan funds.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS

Upon return from a Training course, workshop, study tour, conference or symposia, etc, the nominee shall submit a report to the Administrative Department, highlighting the course contents and the lessons learned and how the training may be applied to the functioning of Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The PSC may carry out reviews to monitor all issues related to foreign training / visits on an annual basis.