A case has been filed in IHC, employees clueless about their fate.
More than 250 employees working of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) are still struggling to get their contracts regularised, The Express Tribune has learnt. As the case remains pending in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), employees are clueless about the extension of their contracts.
In 2011, the government passed a bill to regularise contractual employees. As soon as the bill was passed, almost 70,000 employees of various organisations including NHA, NDMA, Nadra and Radio Pakistan were made permanent, whereas Erra did not follow suit. Speaking to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, a contractual employee of the authority said after Erra refused to regularise the contractual employees, more than 100 employees filed a case against the authority in June 2012 in the IHC. The case is ongoing.
The employee said that since the past year, they have been paying a hefty fee of Rs200,000 to the lawyer fighting their case out of their own pockets. “We all contribute and give as much as we can from the very little salary that we get,” he said, adding that they are all mentally disturbed as they fear the case will keep dragging till someone takes a serious notice of the issue.
Another Erra official revealed that once the case was filed against the authority, it mobilised and hired a legal advisor for a hefty Rs150,000 per month, apart from a team of four to five lawyers that charge Rs50,000 per hearing. The official informed further that the fee of the Erra’s legal team is paid through government funding, whereas the contractual employees are managing it from their personal funds. He said the authority is helpless at the moment and cannot terminate the employees who are demanding implementation of their rights as their case is in court.
“We filed our case in a timely manner, they cannot terminate us because the issue is still pending in the high court,” said another employee. It was also learnt that the most outspoken employees are transferred to various field assignments so as to mitigate their influence among the other employees.
When asked about the situation, Erra Deputy Chairman Major-General Azeem Asif said it was an administrative issue which existed in all big organisations. Refusing to acknowledge the issue as ‘serious’, he said the authority is working under government policies and will not go against any rule or regulation.
Employees who are on an annual contract are waiting to hear from the authority about the status of their contract this year. Employees explained that their contracts are revised each year by June 30 .
Employees expressed cautious hope, with the new government setting in, that some serious policy revision will take place to help the hundreds of employees whose jobs and livelihood is at stake.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2013.
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