Serious Questions Raised Over Distribution of Civil Awards
ISLAMABAD (Daily Qudrat): Serious questions have been raised over the national civil awards announced by the government on August 14, with Pakistani citizen and activist Ishba Kamran writing a formal letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, urging the immediate withdrawal of awards given to serving bureaucrats, federal secretaries and ministers.
In her letter to the President, Ishba Kamran argued that granting national awards to salaried bureaucrats and ministers for performing their routine official duties amounted to a violation of the Constitution and law.
She said a formal reminder had also been sent to the Presidency in August 2025 regarding the issue, but despite this, the administration had once again allegedly taken an unconstitutional step by announcing such awards on August 14, 2026.
Miss @Ashbakamran3 has written to President of Pakistan, requesting him to withdraw unconstitutional and illegal conferment of civil awards.She has a strong point. When governance system is not delivering how can civil awards be given to those who are responsible for poor service pic.twitter.com/X1JOd2wtiC
— Shahbaz Rana (@81ShahbazRana) August 16, 2026
Referring to constitutional and legal provisions, the letter stated that Article 259(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan limits national awards to areas including acts of bravery, outstanding services by the armed forces, academic distinction and extraordinary and selfless public service.
According to the letter, “public service” in this context should refer to exceptional and self-sacrificing achievements rather than routine official duties performed by bureaucrats and ministers who already receive salaries for their responsibilities.
The letter also referred to the Decorations Act, 1975, and related laws, arguing that civil awards should not be linked to administrative positions, seniority or government employment.
Ishba Kamran contended that awarding medals to serving government officials could create a serious conflict of interest and encourage a culture of favoritism and preferential treatment.
Citing Article 5(2) of the Constitution, she maintained that obedience to the Constitution and law was the obligation of every citizen, including the head of state.
The activist made two key demands in her letter. First, she called for an administrative order to immediately cancel the awards granted to serving bureaucrats and ministers included in the August 14, 2026 list if the awards were given for their routine official responsibilities.
Second, she urged the government to direct the Cabinet Division to disqualify serving officials performing routine administrative and government duties from future nominations for civil awards.
A copy of the letter has also been sent to the Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Division in Islamabad.
