Exam jitters: Govt employees boycott offices to protest non-regularisation
Challenge decision to conduct tests for employees of grades 16-18.
Challenge decision to conduct tests for employees of grades 16-18. PHOTO: FILE
GILGIT:
Scores of government employees working on contract in various departments in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) boycotted their workplaces on Monday to press the high-ups into regularising their jobs.
Nearly 100 employees gathered outside the chief minister’s (CM) office in Gilgit to convey their grievances to CM Mehdi Shah. “We are here to protest this grave injustice against us. We will go to any extreme to obtain our due rights,” said Arif Hussain, a government employee.
The G-B government recently decided to regularise contractual employees of grade 16, 17 and 18 through the Federal Public Service Commission. The decision, however, made it compulsory for the officials to pass a test to justify the conversion of their terms of employment; this did not bode well with the officials.
A total of four grade-18 employees, 125 grade-17 employees and eight grade-16 employees will have to pass the test in order to have their jobs regularised.
“As per government rules, we fulfilled all formalities during our appointment and what is required now is for the state to deliver on its end,” said an employee, Meraj Alam.
The appointment of these employees had taken place up till 2007 in the departments of agriculture, fisheries, environment protection agency, veterinary and the CM’s inspection commission, among others.
Alam said there are some employees who have been working on contract for the past 15 years which is against official rules and regulations.
The employees also said they had filed a petition in a local court and asked the government to wait for the court’s orders before taking any decision.
Sajjadul Haq, the CM’s official spokesman, said the issue of contractual employees would be taken up in the upcoming cabinet meeting. “This will be one of the points of agenda during the cabinet meeting to be held on Tuesday (today). The CM will ensure that nobody is left jobless.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2014.
Scores of government employees working on contract in various departments in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) boycotted their workplaces on Monday to press the high-ups into regularising their jobs.
Nearly 100 employees gathered outside the chief minister’s (CM) office in Gilgit to convey their grievances to CM Mehdi Shah. “We are here to protest this grave injustice against us. We will go to any extreme to obtain our due rights,” said Arif Hussain, a government employee.
The G-B government recently decided to regularise contractual employees of grade 16, 17 and 18 through the Federal Public Service Commission. The decision, however, made it compulsory for the officials to pass a test to justify the conversion of their terms of employment; this did not bode well with the officials.
A total of four grade-18 employees, 125 grade-17 employees and eight grade-16 employees will have to pass the test in order to have their jobs regularised.
“As per government rules, we fulfilled all formalities during our appointment and what is required now is for the state to deliver on its end,” said an employee, Meraj Alam.
The appointment of these employees had taken place up till 2007 in the departments of agriculture, fisheries, environment protection agency, veterinary and the CM’s inspection commission, among others.
Alam said there are some employees who have been working on contract for the past 15 years which is against official rules and regulations.
The employees also said they had filed a petition in a local court and asked the government to wait for the court’s orders before taking any decision.
Sajjadul Haq, the CM’s official spokesman, said the issue of contractual employees would be taken up in the upcoming cabinet meeting. “This will be one of the points of agenda during the cabinet meeting to be held on Tuesday (today). The CM will ensure that nobody is left jobless.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2014.