ISLAMABAD: The Establishment Division has placed strict mandatory requirements on degree verification and watertight financial surety tracking for civil servants returning from foreign and local studies, scholarships and deputations. Under newly released standard operating procedures, the government has signalled that state-funded foreign training and academic excursions will no longer be treated as open-ended vacations, introducing severe career and financial penalties for non-compliance. Bureaucrats returning from international universities or local academic programmes after study leave often delayed submitting their final credentials. But the new circular changes the game entirely. According to the new circular, officers returning from study leave or foreign scholarships must submit a certified copy of their degree certificate or official academic transcript alongside their joining report. If an officer fails to submit their degree without a cogent, verifiable reason, they will officially be considered absent from duty. DNA
