One man too many: Learning centres for special children desperate for help

Overstaffing adding to the woes of rehabilitation centres for phyiscally challenged

ISLAMABAD:

The government-run educational institutions for physically challenged persons are the most neglected social service sectors in Pakistan due to its unfortunate administration, according to a senior official of the Directorate General of Special Education, Islamabad.

Millions of rupees are being wasted on the salaries of surplus staff annually while the educational and rehabilitation centres for special children are deprived of basic necessities, the official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

At least 500 senior officers and subordinate staff of the directorate general of special education, Islamabad  who were declared surplus under the devolution plan in April 2011, under the 18th constitutional amendment are still drawing their salaries and other perks since the previous four years.

Over six hundred officers and other staff who were posted at the Directorate General of Special Education or Headquarters for the management and administration of 170 centers for physically handicapped persons throughout the country, are still in existence without any justification.

Nine out of those 170 centers for such physically handicapped persons are left with the headquarters, Islamabad while the rest of them have been devolved to the provinces in April 2011.

For instance, the posts of directors of Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, at the headquarters which were supposed to have been abolished after the devolution are still being maintained as those were before the 18th amendment.

The director general of the headquarters, Sibghatur Rehman, agreed that a large number of senior officers, including his own position  eight directors and subordinate staff that are a part of his directorate general, are an unnecessary burden on public exchequer without any justification.  He declared that it was not his job to ask the federal government to abolishing the surplus directorate with their staff adding the concerned officials in the government should have taken a decision about those officers and staff who became surplus during and after the devolution process.

He also agreed that right sizing of personnel in his directorate general was necessary to save the public money. He was of the view that except of few directors and small number of junior staff the rest of the unnecessary personnel should be sent to the surplus poll of the federal government. He disclosed that certain departments were considering some proposals regarding the whole issue.

However, another senior official suggested that all the directors along with their subordinates excluding two directors, the director administration and the director coordination should be sent to surplus pool immediately to save millions of rupees annually.

He was of the view that two directors, along with their essential staff, are sufficient to look after nine centers of physically and mentally handicapped children in Islamabad. The money saved should be used to meet the financial needs of those nine centers that are neglected, in terms of the required funds since last several years.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2015.