Fearing consequences: Govt employees speak out against privatisation

Representative council calls for salary bumps, increase in rent allowances.


Our Correspondent January 21, 2014
Govt employees speak out against privatisation. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

PESHAWAR:


All Government Employees Coordination Council (AGECC) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Monday rejected plans for privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the federal government.


AGECC members held a news conference at Peshawar Press Club wherein the coordination council threatened to hold protests if the government goes ahead with its plans of privatisation.

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“If the government is really interested in enhancing efficiency of public organisations, the best course of action is to do away with all kinds of political interference in operations of these organisations,” said AGECC President Muhammad Aslam Khan.

“These institutions have regularly been used by politicians for fulfilling personal interests and that in itself has destroyed almost all the SOEs,” he added.

Employees of Pakistan Railways, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Civil Aviation Authority, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), municipal administration, public school teachers, paramedics and others were present on the occasion.

Speakers announced a protest against the privatisation process on February 6 at Eidgah, Peshawar. Government employees from across the province will participate in the demonstration. Aslam said the AGECC would also hold a protest march to Islamabad if the government does not stop with the privatisation process.

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“What benefits have the government accrued from previous cases of privatisation of several other organisations?” questioned AGECC General Secretary Gohar Taj. He claimed all organisations that have previously been privatised are still sustaining huge losses.

The general secretary said all public organisations are established to enhance the overall welfare of the society and they should be allowed to work for that purpose. Taj claimed privatisation will lead to downsizing of the organisations, in turn leading to an increase in unemployment, which the council will not tolerate.

“The government has initiated the process only to appease a certain group of people,” he added.

The council on behalf of government employees also called for granting permanent positions to all employees who have been working on ad hoc posts for a long while now. They urged the centre for salary bumps for all government employees in accordance with inflation and to provide enhanced house rents, which Taj claimed have not been improved since 2001.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2014.

COMMENTS (3)

Mirza | 10 years ago | Reply

When are we going to privatize the army which is our biggest bottomless bucket? We can hire and fire these poor employs at will and control their perks and improve performance. However, we cannot even discuss the salaries and perks of the army officers. Why some govt departments are under the govt while others are not even under the parliament, constitution or courts? In our Islamic Republic it is time we treat all paid govt employs equally.

kaka | 10 years ago | Reply

government also does not seems to have any idea on how to proceed for privatization rather then only giving statements

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