Elevation: Upgrade post of guard, Railways told

LAHORE:  

Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed Pakistan Railways (PR) to upgrade the post of guard and extend the same benefits to those serving in the capacity it had previously granted to some of them through an earlier order. Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan was hearing 19 identical petitions filed by railway guards seeking directions for upgrade of their posts like other cadres appointed on terms and conditions similar to theirs. The petitioners had submitted that they had been appointed in BS-9 but STEs (special ticket examiners) were given BS-11 and 14 despite having similar qualifications. They said the STEs, who had been appointed along with them [the petitioners], had been promoted and made group inspectors and divisional inspectors but the post of guard was not upgraded. The judge said that an earlier LHC order in this regard had been for the upgrade of the post of guard and not with respect to an individual. The judge directed the railway authorities to extend the same benefits to all guards within three months.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2016.