Succumbing to pressure? 12,000 LG employees back on their jobs

Durrani denies his involvement in the appointments during his tenure.

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has taken back its decision to remove nearly 12,900 employees of the local government department who were appointed against the rules.

According to a government official, the removal of these workers created a rift between the ranks of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh. Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, who was the local government minister at the time these appointments were made, and other PPP leaders criticised their colleagues’ move to sack these workers, sources told The Express Tribune.

“The decision has created resentment among party members in rural Sindh,” said an official. “These people were appointed before the May 11 elections and the relevant authorities had assured them that no one will lay them off later.” The mounting pressure from certain quarters forced the government to take back its decision, he added.

On June 30, 2012, these nearly 13,000 workers were appointed in grades one to 15. They were, however, sacked more than a year later on Monday. In the notification, the heads of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and other municipalities were asked to remove these workers within 15 days.

The decision to dismiss these employees was made after an inquiry committee, formed on the directives of chief minister Qaim Ali Shah and the then local government minister, Owais Muzaffar, submitted its report. The committee, headed by additional local government secretary Nazir Dhoon, had pointed out massive irregularities in these appointments. Most of the people were given the job during the ban on government services.



Meanwhile, information minister Sharjeel Memon, who holds the local government ministry after Muzaffar’s resignation, denied that the PPP made any illegal appointments in its previous tenure. No employee of the local government department will be removed and action will be taken against officers who issued the removal orders, he said.

“Today, we have cancelled the notification because the PPP’s policy is to give jobs, not to remove people from services,” he said.

On the other hand, Speaker Durrani told The Express Tribune said that he had nothing to do with these appointments. “I think the bureaucrats appointed these people,” he claimed. “Since I was not even involved, why would I put pressure to take back the notification?” He suggested taking action against the relevant officials if these people were found to be appointed against the rules.

After the controversy over these appointments, the provincial government has, in principle, decided to transfer the local government secretary, Ali Ahmed Lund, and will initiate an inquiry on how the removal orders were issued. “The acting local government minister has started consultations,” said a senior bureaucrat. “The Sindh government will transfer the incumbent secretary soon and appoint another one.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th,2013.