PPP passes controversial bill amid protests

Bill gives legal cover to 619 employees inducted during PPP tenure of 1993-1996

KARACHI: Amid strong protest by joint opposition parties, the Sindh Assembly passed on Thursday the 'Sindh Sacked Employees' Reinstatement Bill 2016', giving legal cover to 619 employees who were inducted in government departments during the second tenure of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government from 1993 to 1996.

"These employees were dismissed or terminated during 1997 and 2008 by [Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz] PML-N and General (retd) [Pervez] Musharraf governments," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. "Our government subsequently reinstated them and now wants to give them legal cover." He said the government had received complaints from around 1,900 people who had been sacked, of which 619 have been restored on the recommendation of a committee. "Since PPP believes in [providing] jobs to people, we have made this decision," he said.

According to the law, these sacked employees will be entitled to all the services and benefits as provided under the prevailing law relating to the Sindh Civil Servants.



After Khuhro's words, the opposition MPAs stood up to protest against the law. "Today, you have introduced this bill and going to pass it, too," said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentary leader Samar Ali Khan. "Giving jobs to people is a good thing but they should be provided on merit. We have no idea under which rules or law these employees have been reinstated. We request you to please refer this bill to the standing committee to review it. You are not a welfare organisation but a government where all appointments must be made on merit."

Syed Sardar Ahmed of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) asked PPP ministers to provide a list of these employees to the opposition with details of their departments before passing the bill. "We also want to know when these employees were appointed, terminated and reinstated," he said.

Pakistan Muslim League - Functional lawmaker Nusrat Seher Abbasi was of the view that these employees are PPP's 'jiyalas' and had been appointed on political grounds during the tenure of then Chief Minister Abdullah Shah.

Similarly, PML-N's Ismail Rahu questioned why these employees were reinstated before passage of this law. "Many employees have been sacked in PPP's last government," he said. "Since you believe in giving jobs, why can't you reinstate these hundreds of employees?" He added that the law should be amended to reinstate all the employees sacked till 2016.

According to official, the actual reason for passing this law was that some people had dragged the matter of reinstatement of the sacked employees to the court, which has now asked the provincial government to provide details of the employees. "The government, which had reinstated these employees in 2009, is afraid of the situation," said an official, adding that this is why the government wants to give legal cover to the matter. He added that one of the employees, Eijaz Shah, is the brother-in-law of the chief minister and was appointed by the then chief minister as assistant commissioner in 1996. "The PML-N government also removed him citing the reason of his illegal appointment," said a senior official in the Sindh government. "He went to the court but all in vain. [Later], the PPP government reinstated him with previous perks and privileges." He added that Shah has recently been promoted to Grade 19. Most of the opposition lawmakers also claimed that only the 'jiyalas' who were given jobs in PPP tenures have been reinstated.

While responding to opposition parties, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah became emotional. "Yes, I am also a jiyalo and we have appointed these people purely on merit," he said. "I want to know if jiyalas don't have the right to get government jobs on merit." He added that his party leader Benazir Bhutto faced trial in court because of jobs given to people and, appearing before the court, she said "If giving a job to someone is crime, I will again commit [this] crime."

Shah said that the federal government had also formed committees in 2009 and passed the law to reinstate sacked employees but it was not allowed for the Sindh government. "There is no case against these employees, many of whom had also passed the public service commission [exams]," he said. "But they were fired on political grounds."

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2016.