The Federal Secretaries or Top Brass Bureaucrats to the Government of Pakistan are the bureaucratic heads of the Departmental Divisions / Autonomous Bodies under the Ministries to the Government of Pakistan. These bureaucrats work under the Ministers who are the members of National Assembly

National Assembly of Pakistan

The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...

. Top brass of bureaucracy mostly comes through Central Superior Services of Pakistan

Central Superior Services of Pakistan

Central Superior Services of Pakistan is the civil service of the country. It was established in 1973 under Article 240 of the newly framed Constitution. The CSS Examinations are held in the start of every year to recruit the civil servants for the Civil Services of Pakistan.-Structure:The...

, but on certain occasions think tanks, adjudicators, military generals, scientists, journalists, technocrats and experts in specified fields are also employed on extendable contracts.

Due to the unstable political history of Pakistan, the bureaucrats were usually the policymakers of the country. Unlike provincial assemblies, where there are chief secretaries in each province, there is no Prime/head secretary to the Central Government. However, the establishment secretary, cabinet secretary and principal secretary to the prime minister enjoy privilege of surplus authority over all contemporaries, though seniors. Notwithstanding, the retirement age for government servants in Pakistan is 60 years, but the tenure of top brass bureaucrats in a particular office do not exceed four years. Top brass bureaucrats are commonly placed in Grade 22 or equivalent, however, with regards to secretaries, acting secretaries equivalent to the status of Additional Secretaries (BS-21) are occasionally appointed in absence to fill up these key vacancies. Moreover, Bureaucrats with superb career profiles were also elevated to the coveted status of Secretary General (a dignified post of Grade 22) or equivalent on very rare occasions. The rules of selection and promotion of top brass bureaucrats to grade 22 or equivalent always remained varying, however, the ultimate authority for Promotion and appointment of top brass bureaucrats exclusively rests with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who based on the recommendations of president, ministers and selection board promote government servants to these prestigious key posts.

The seniority wise current list of Federal Secretaries / Top Brass Bureaucrats is stipulated in the below table.

List of Serving Federal Secretaries / Top Brass Bureaucrats

No.	Name of Federal Secretary	In charge of	Entered Office	Leaving Office On	Date of retirement from Service
1	Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ather Ali	Ministry of Defence	15 October 2008	16 October 2011	Employed on contract
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3
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7
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