Punjab librarians await promotions for two decades
Vice-President of the Punjab Librarians Association Parveen Maqsood said that there was no service structure under which they might be promoted. Maqsood said that currently, there are 221 librarians working in various colleges across Punjab.
She said that in 1995, the then government “half-heartedly” tried to formulate a service structure, which was passed in 1997. However, it has still not been implemented.
Maqsood said that in many cases, librarians were inducted and retired as BPS-17 officers. “Instead of being promoted, some librarians were demoted to BPS-16 in 2001 and made assistant librarians. This is a form of exploitation,” she said. In 2004, they were again promoted to BPS-17 without a service structure. As an example, she quoted the librarian of the Government Degree College, Multan, who retired last year after working in the same position for 25 years.
She said that librarians should have a four-tier service structure similar to that of physical education directorate, adding that they had been facing the same problem, but now have a proper structure. She said that some colleges had introduced a course called library science, which meant that librarians are not only maintaining libraries but also delivering lectures.
Librarian Humera Mahjabeen said that the basic qualification for librarians was a Masters degree and they were selected by the Punjab Public Service Commission via the same process as college lecturers. “In the education policy of 1972, ministries and departments were directed to protect all such fields for use by students and give them the same pay and status as other teachers of comparable qualifications. But, no effective action has yet been taken,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2011.
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