PiDA: Govt told to regularise all employees

LHC directed Punjab government to regularise all contract employees of PIDA within three months.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the Punjab government to regularise all contract employees of the Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority (PIDA) within three months. Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan issued the order while disposing of identical petitions filed by PIDA employees. The court also barred authorities concerned from terminating the services of any contractual employee during the period. The government was directed to extend an employee’s contract if it expired in the next three months. The court ordered the government to form a committee, headed by the chief secretary, to ensure that the government confirms the employees. Secretaries of the Finance and Irrigation Departments will be members of the committee. Petitioners Abdul Qayyum Arif and others had contended that the Punjab government had announced in 2010 that it would regularise all contractual employees but had not done so.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2012.