Govt assures SC: Cardiac centre employees’ may get salaries in a week

PM’s secretary appears before Chief Justice Saqib Nisar

ISLAMABAD: The government assured the apex court on Tuesday that the staffers of the cardiac centre of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) who have been working without pay for the last three years will be paid in a week’s time.

At a previous hearing of a suo moto case, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had directed the government to pay the staffers so that the centre keeps on working optimally. When the salaries were not released despite the directions, an irate chief justice on Monday had issued summons for the PM’s secretaries and the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).



About nine doctors, nurses and technical staffers had been working without salaries since June 30, 2015 when their contracts expired.

Premier’s secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad appeared before the court and gave assurance that the employees of Pims cardiac centre will be given their respective salaries within a week and no one will be harassed or intimidated by inquiries.

He accepted that the government has no justification to receive the cardiac centre staff’s services free of charge.

Earlier, the government was refusing to renew their contracts and release their rightful salaries, arguing that they should appear in Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) examination.

The centre had hired around 38 employees of different cadres when it started functioning around 12 years ago. Later, some employees resigned due to the ineffective response of the government.



In 2016, a committee of the government regularised services of around 22 employees grade-15 and lower, but bypassed the nine employees in higher grade, nor were their contracts renewed.

The Senate Committee on Cabinet Secretariat last year directed the departments concerned to complete the regularisation process — initiated on orders from the Islamabad High Court.

But Fawad told the court that the federal cabinet has approved a policy for such employees in 2017 according to which employees working on daily wage and contract basis will be given age relaxation and five marks extra to pass FPSC examination.

He said the government has regularised lower grade staff but employees from grade 16 and above will have to go through the formal procedure and their case will be sent to the FPSC.

The CJ said these employees will continue to work until the new appointment by FPSC and those who pass the exam will be regularised.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2018.