Educators slam move to end regular employment

Associations warn move could erode public trust, lower salaries & impact pensions

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab Teachers Union, Educators Association, and Headmasters Association have strongly condemned the provincial government's decision to end regular permanent employment in the public sector, calling it an "economic assassination" of the middle class. They warned that the move would erode public trust in government institutions, lower salaries in the private sector, and increase crime rates.

Teacher leaders Rana Liaqat, Basharat Iqbal Raja, Shafiq Bhalwalia, Malik Amjad, and All Pakistan Clerk Association's Central Vice President Shehzad Manzoor Kiani stated that permanent government jobs in Punjab have effectively been abolished. The Punjab government has repealed the "Punjab Regularisation of Service Act 2018," the law under which contract and temporary employees were granted permanent status.

Under the new 2025 ordinance, employees on contract will no longer be regularised under the previous law. However, decisions and regularisations completed under the 2018 Act will remain intact. The government justified the move by citing a need to reduce the financial burden of pensions and salaries on the state treasury.

Future recruitments will now follow a "Lump Sum Pay Package" system, meaning employees will be hired on contractual or package-based terms rather than permanent positions with basic salary scales. In simpler terms, most future government jobs in Punjab will be offered on a contract or lump-sum basis, and the previous law allowing regularization has been abolished.

The associations have expressed strong opposition to the ordinance and announced that a grand meeting will be convened to organise protests. They also warned that this change could affect pensions for retirees, potentially leading to reductions and eventual termination of benefits in phases.