Compensation time: Law grants seniority to employees hired since 1994

Sindh Civil Servants Bill 2014 was adopted with majority of votes.

KARACHI:

Despite the opposition parties vote against the benefits being given to ad hoc employees in the Sindh government, the provincial assembly passed a law on Friday to provide seniority and incentives to thousands of employees hired since 1994. 

The 'Sindh Civil Servants (regularisation of ad hoc appointment amendment) Bill 2014' was adopted with a majority of votes amid some opposition by opposition members.

"Madam speaker, thousands of employees are privileged. They have been appointed on the basis of their political affiliation.  If you want to pass the law please give them the perks, privilege and seniority with effect from today instead of the date of their appointment date since 1994," said Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Mahtab Akbar Rashdi.

Meanwhile, treasury members belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) defended the law and said that it would remove the hardships of these employees who are victims of discrimination, double standards and injustice.

"We have already regularised these employees appointed since 1994, but their previous services were not taken into consideration. This resulted into frustration among them because their colleagues who are junior by virtue of the date of appointment have become their seniors," said minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Sikandar Mandhro. This law will now enable the employees to enjoy all service benefits and avail their due seniority, he added.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) deputy parliamentary leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ifranullah Marwat suggested referring the law to the standing committee for discussion.

"You are again going to make a controversial law to appease your own people. The court will strike it down. So please don't put a burden on the shoulders of the provincial government and defer this law," said MQM's Hassan.

The same advice came from PML-N's Marwat, who being a member of the opposition party, also supports the PPP in legislation. "I have supported the government whenever it has brought any positive legislation, but this bill is not tolerable."

Senior minister for education Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that these ad hoc employees were not only appointed in the PPP tenure, but they were also given the jobs during governments of other political parties. "Stop blaming the incumbent government. You have also regularised the employees from 2001-2007. No one should raise objections for point scoring," he said.

Quota in govt jobs

The quota system in government jobs was another issue that dominated the proceedings, which started with deputy speaker Shehla Raza in chair on Friday.

MQM's parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed expressed his concern on the recent appointment of teachers. Referring to the Constitution, he said, "There is a provision in the law that 60 per cent jobs applicants will be appointed from rural areas and 40 per cent quota from urban areas, including Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. But a few days ago, this condition was violated in the teachers appointment case," he said, briefing on the number of offers letter given in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Larkana.

Khuhro said, "The World Bank has given $400 million to the education sector for paying the salaries of teachers. The amount also includes training budget. They have been asked to appoint teachers on merit and need basis. We are bound to follow the donor agency guidelines."

"We have formed a recruitment committee, conducted tests and interviews of the candidates and the World Bank gave approval before the issuance of appointment letters," he said, adding that provincial education department has to appoint around 20,000 teachers out of which 7,000 junior school teachers are being appointed on merit.  He said that 350 offer letters have been given in Larkana, 150 in Mirpurkhas and 1,094 in Hyderabad. However, orders are yet to be issued in Karachi and Sukkur.

PPP MPAs defend ‘corrupt’ bureaucrat 

A few days ago, Pakistan Peoples Party senior education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, while addressing the assembly session, requested the MPAs to help him reopen non-functional schools in their respective constituencies, but it seems the members of his own party ignored his directions by defending an alleged corrupt bureaucrat.

This issue came to the limelight when a minority MPA from Pakistan Muslim League-Functional Nand Kumar Goklani moved his privileged motion on Friday against Sanghar district education officer Yar Mohammad Baladi.

“Some people had pointed towards a number of ghost schools and I wanted to visit these areas but, when contacted, the education officer did not attend my phone," he said. "Instead, he misbehaved and used non-parliamentary language.” He added that Baladi was an unauthorised officer working against the rules. "He is a junior officer. The government has not issued notification for his position."  Though the minister for parliamentary affairs, Dr Sikandar Mandhro, requested the speaker to either form a special committee or refer the matter to the standing committee, Shahid Thaheem, who also belongs to the district, said that Goklani was misguiding the house. Many ruling party lawmakers took a stand in favour of the education officer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2014.