The Central Superior Services is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of Pakistan. The Prime Minister is the final authority on all matters regarding the civil service.
The Pakistan Administrative Service, or PAS is an elite cadre of the Civil Services of Pakistan. The Pakistan Administrative Service over the years has emerged as the most consolidated and developed post-colonial institution in Pakistan, with the PAS officers of Grade 22 often seen as stronger than the federal government ministers. The service of PAS is generalist in nature and officers are assigned to different departments all across Pakistan during the course of their careers. Almost all of the country's highest-profile positions such as the Federal Secretaries, the provincial Chief Secretaries, and chairmen of top-heavy organizations like the National Highway Authority, Trading Corporation of Pakistan and State Life Insurance Corporation usually belong to the Pakistan Administrative Service.
Agha Jan Akhtar is a retired officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service who served in BPS-21 grade as the Chairman of the Port Qasim Authority under the Ministry of Maritime Affairs from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that, he served as a provincial secretary in the Government of Sindh including as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.
Tariq Bajwa is a retired Pakistani civil servant who served in BPS-22 grade as the Finance Secretary and Economic Affairs Secretary of Pakistan. Bajwa also served as the 19th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and the 20th Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue. He is the only Pakistani who won the Littauer fellowship at Harvard University. He also received a master's degree in Public Administration from the same institution. Bajwa is batchmates with Shehzad Arbab, Sajjad Saleem Hotiana and Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad.
Rizwan Ahmed is the current Member of Sindh Public Service Commission and a former grade 22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service who served at the highest civil service office of Federal Secretary. He did his two-year Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and joined the civil service in 1988. Rizwan holds the rare distinction of having served as the chief executive of four state-owned companies under the Government of Pakistan, the most by any individual at the federal level. He was promoted to the country's top bureaucratic rank of grade 22 in 2017.
The federal secretary is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is the administrative head of that ministry or division and oversees and enforces public policy matters. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with the Cabinet of Pakistan. The position holder is a BPS-22 grade officer, usually belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service.
Fawad Hasan Fawad is a Pakistani public policy practitioner, civil servant, diplomat and poet who is the current caretaker Federal Minister for Privatisation, in office since 16 September 2023.
Jawad Rafique Malik is an officer of Pakistani civil service in BPS-22 grade currently serving as Federal Secretary of the Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Division. Hailing from Lahore, Malik belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Fawad Hasan Fawad, Rizwan Ahmed, Sikandar Sultan Raja and Shoaib Mir Memon.
Sikandar Sultan Raja is a retired Pakistani civil servant who serves as the Chief Election Commissioner in office since January 2020. He belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Rizwan Ahmed, Hussain Asghar, Fawad Hasan Fawad and Jawad Rafique Malik.
Nasir Mahmood Khosa is a retired Pakistani civil servant from Dera Ghazi Khan who belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service and served in BPS-22 grade, the highest attainable rank for a serving officer. He was promoted to the rank of Federal Secretary in 2010.
Grade 22 is the highest attainable rank for a Civil Servant in Pakistan. Grade 22 is equal to a 4-star rank of the Pakistan Armed Forces. With over five hundred thousand civil servants and bureaucrats in Pakistan, only a few dozen officers serve in BPS-22 grade at a given time. Hence, not even 1% of the country's civil servants and/or bureaucrats make it to the highest rank. Officers serving in BPS-22 grade are largely considered to be the most influential individuals in the country.
Muhammad Shehzad Arbab is a retired Pakistani civil servant who served as Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Establishment from August 2018 to 10 April 2022. Before his retirement from civil services, Arbab served in BPS-22 grade as the Commerce Secretary of Pakistan and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Tariq Bajwa, Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad and Sajjad Saleem Hotiana.
Naveed Kamran Baloch is a retired Pakistani civil servant who served in BPS-22 grade at the top bureaucratic offices of Cabinet Secretary and Finance Secretary of Pakistan. Baloch belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service and was promoted to the rank of Federal Secretary in October 2017. After retirement from active civil service as one of the senior-most federal secretaries in the country, Baloch was appointed as the executive director to World Bank.
Iqbal Hussain Durrani is a retired Pakistani civil servant who served in BPS-22 grade as the National Security Secretary of Pakistan. Durrani belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is the son-in-law of former Chief Minister of Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah. History was made when Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019 promoted both Durrani as well as his wife, Pakistan Administrative Service officer Naheed Shah Durrani, to grade 22; as it was the first time in the country's bureaucratic history that both husband and wife were promoted together to the elite rank of Federal Secretary.
Maroof Afzal was a Pakistani civil servant who belonged to the Pakistan Administrative Service and served as the Establishment Secretary and Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan.
Mir Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri is a retired Pakistani civil servant of the Pakistan Administrative Service who served in BPS-22 grade as the Establishment Secretary of Pakistan and Chief Secretary Balochistan. Lehri is the most decorated federal secretary from Balochistan in civil service history as he headed five federal ministries and also remained the administrative boss of his home province.
Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad is a retired Pakistani civil servant who served as chairman of the Federal Land Commission of Pakistan from April 2020 to April 2023. Previously, he served in BPS-22 grade as the Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan, Chief Secretary Balochistan and Maritime Secretary. He also served as ECP Secretary and Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan. He belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Shehzad Arbab, Tariq Bajwa and Sajjad Saleem Hotiana.
Kamran Rasool is a retired Pakistani civil servant belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service who served in BPS-22 grade as the Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan, Chief Secretary Punjab and later on as the Defence Secretary of Pakistan. Rasool was considered to be one of the most influential civil servants during the era of General Pervez Musharraf. Rasool was promoted to the highest civil rank of Federal Secretary in May 2003.
Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqi is a Pakistani civil servant who serves in BPS-22 grade, the highest attainable rank for a civil servant, as the Commerce Secretary of Pakistan, in office since July 2020. Faruqi belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and was promoted to the rank of Federal Secretary in June 2020. He hails from Sindh and holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics. In 2022 after the retirement of Federal Secretary Rizwan Ahmed, Sualeh Faruqi being the next senior-most grade 22 officer from Sindh was appointed as Member of the Central Selection Board- the prestigious body responsible for promotion of the country's senior civil servants.
Muhammad Iqbal Memon is a Pakistani civil servant in BPS-21 Grade, currently serving as the Commissioner Karachi Division. Iqbal belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is presently posted in the Government of Sindh.
