Teachers irked at having to resubmit documents in a day

Complain of having to stand in long queues in hot weather to secure stamp paper to submit to CADD

ISLAMABAD: Teachers of the capital were left fuming on Monday after many had to queue up for hours under the beating sun to submit, once more, documents attesting to how many nationalities they had.



Following directions from the Supreme Court, the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) — which oversees the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and all the government-run schools and teachers employed there —had directed teachers to submit within a day affidavit regarding their dual nationality status.

The apex court had on January 17 taken a suo motu notice of government officers with dual nationalities serving in federal and provincial government departments. The court had subsequently directed the of Establishment Division secretary to submit a detailed report about all the civil servants from basic pay scale (BPS)-17 to BPS-22 who hold dual nationalities.

Consequently, the CADD had directed officers at all of its attached departments and educational institutions to submit the requisite information. Officials, including teachers, said that they had submitted the information over a month ago.

However, a letter was issued on Monday to all government-run educational institutions in which officials were directed to re-submit details about them and their spouse before the day’s end.

This cause a scramble as teachers rushed to deposit their documents. At CADD though, they found a long queue and many had to stand in it for an extended period.

Teachers said they had already provided to CADD and FDE the information required over a month ago in both, hard and soft copy formats. Despite that, the teachers complained, they had been asked to resubmit the details

When asked why the department had asked for their details again, the teachers said apparently some information submitted the last time was incorrect, hence they had been asked to submit affidavits on stamp paper within a day.

They added that it had been made mandatory to submit the documents since non-compliance of the directions, hiding of facts and misstatements about dual nationality would result in disciplinary proceedings against them along with a fine of Rs20,000 each of not reporting.

There are hardly any dual nationals amongst government-school teachers, but to submit an affidavit within a day on such a short notice when schools are closed created difficulties for them.



Teachers could be seen standing in the hot and humid weather in Sector F-8 market and other markets all day to submit documents at CADD offices.

An office bearer of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) said that teachers have been asked to provide information regarding the dual nationality of themselves and their spouse on stamp paper.

“Standing in long queues with your CNIC in front of a stamp vendor in this hot weather to get a stamp paper is disrespectful to teachers in BPS-17 and above. Many of them are old and on the verge of retirement,” the FGCTA official said, adding that there should be a respectable way to get the information the government desired.

“We request the apex court to give some time so that government servants are treated in a respectable way,” the teacher’s body demanded. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2018.