Transferring depts to IMC: CDA employees reject interior ministry’s notification

Term move illegal, in contravention of court orders in pending cases

ISLAMABAD: Nearly a week after the Interior Ministry issued a notification handing over several departments of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) to the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation, employees of the civic agency on Friday rejected the transfer.

The interior ministry had on January 6 notified that several departments of the CDA and the ICTA would now be administered by elected representatives of the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC). The departments transferred from CDA include directorates in administration wing, engineering wing, environment wing, finance wing.

Additionally, the subjects of local government and rural development department, including the three rural development markaz, one rural area coordination committee, civil defence department, public health department and prevention and control of communicable diseases in ICTA were transferred to IMC.

However, in a meeting of CDA employees at the union’s office at CDA headquarters on Friday, the collective bargaining agent (CBA) rejected the notification, terming the transfers as illegal and constituting contempt of the court.

“The Interior Ministry notification of January 6, regarding the division of all rights, assets and liabilities of different CDA directorates is an attempt to destroy the future of 11,000 employees working in 35 directorates of CDA, said CBA Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin while addressing the meeting.

“The [CDA] employees do not accept this notification.”

He added that certain petitions of CDA workers, regarding the distribution of assets and liabilities and transfer of employees from CDA to IMC, was already pending in the court and that the court had directed CDA and IMC management to hold a dialogue with the employees’ union and resolve the matter amicably in consultation with the employees.

Yasin added that the court had further ordered that no employee of CDA would be transferred forcefully without their consent until a final judgment from the court.

The CBA representatives demanded that interior ministry’s notification should be withdrawn immediately until the court issues a judgment in the matter.

He further demanded that CDA workers who had been working on the master roll for last 89 days must be shifted to daily wages and workers who had been fired from CDA without any proper reason must be reinstated.

He announced that the labour union would chalk out its future course of action at the employees’ general body meeting scheduled to be held on January 25 at CDA headquarters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2017.