Bad times: At FDE, staffers make do without basic amenities

FDE head shrugs issues off as ‘trivial’, says employees should learn to make do.

ISLAMABAD:

The walking dead have not yet invaded the Federal Directorate of Education’s head office, but you will be hard-pressed to tell from the state of disarray it is in.

Most phone lines are dead, elevator out of order, and the copiers are gathering dust. The directorate, which manages 424 schools and colleges employing more than 6,000 staff members, is also short on stationery and officials have been asked to use paper as less as possible.

An official at the head office said many of the phone lines have been dead for the last two months and they have been forced to fall back on cellphones.



“This is what happens when you do not pay bills and exceed your limits,” said the official who works in the administration branch.

Many of the offices in the four-storey building have been virtually made inaccessible to people with disabilities, aged visitors and pensioners due to the broken elevator. Officials say nothing is being done to get it back up and running.

Even the basics, such as the Photostat machines, are missing, forcing people to employ makeshift measures to get the job done.

A top official said, “Stationery and photocopy equipment are some of the basic requirements [of an] organization. Even these things are not easily available here.”



The problems do not end here, however. Many employees entitled to fuel have not been able to use their cards since January 3.

An official, asking not to be named, said, “We have to look after the affairs of education in the city, we visit the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development, different colleges and schools. Without [fuel], what good can you expect from us.”

Administration Director Shahid Khan said they are working on resolving the phone issue, with bills pending with the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue for consideration. The elevator too, he added, will be fixed soon.

FDE Director General Shehnaz Anjum Riaz rubbished the bulk of the problems as “petty issues” that employees should not complain about. They should learn to work even in the absence of such resources, she added. “I am unwell but I use stairs. So should other employees.”

She also termed the nonfunctional phone lines and Photostat machines as “trivial” matters. “The staffers should learn to work in such conditions as it happens in every organisation.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2013.