Three RMC workers face the axe

Investigators look for more civil servants involved in May 9 protests

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has dismissed three of its workers for their involvement in a violent demonstration, at the gate of the General Headquarters of Pakistan Army on Murree Road by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on May 9, under the Punjab Employees Efficiently, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act, 2006.

PTI workers had ransacked public and private property, including several military installations, across the country following the arrest of party Chairman and former premier Imran Khan.

Sources said the due process for the inquiry was completed before laying off the three RMC employees as they were issued show cause notices under the PEEDA Act, 2006.

During the investigation, it was found that these employees took part in anti-state activities besides raising anti-state slogans.

According to sources, the delinquent employees were identified through video footage of the May 9 protests which showed the workers demonstrating at the GHQ gate in the garrison city.

Of the dismissed employees, Muhammad Idris, Data Processing Assistant (BPS-11), is already arrested while Labour Union President Haroon Rasheed, Junior Clerk (BPS-11), and Labour Union General Secretary Shahid Raza Padri, Junior Clerk (BPS-11), have gone into hiding fearing arrests.

The RMC chief executive officer issued a notice of dismissal for the employees under the PEEDA Act. Earlier, an explanation was sought from them through a show-cause notice as to why the employees should not be dismissed.

Meanwhile, a process is underway to identify officials from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA), health and other government departments, who participated in the violent demonstration outside the GHQ.

The sources said the police and other law enforcement agencies have compiled a comprehensive record of the hate speech and other anti-state material which was put online in the shape of videos and pictures by the PTI activists and action will be taken against those responsible under the relevant provisions of law. In addition, action will also be taken under the PEEDA Act, enacted for the dismissal of the implicated civil servants.

The sources claim that investigators were looking for more government workers who were involved in the attack on the GHQ gate but fled the scene before being apprehended despite having their identities confirmed in the footage.

In this context, the departmental heads of these employees have been instructed to initiate legal proceedings against them under the PEEDA Act.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2023.