Corrective measures: Absent government employees to face disciplinary action

FATA Secretariat directs political agents and DCs to begin verification.

PESHAWAR:

The FATA Secretariat has decided to take action against employees missing from duty and is set to begin verification of officials employed in the health and education sector across the tribal areas.

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the secretariat has received complaints that a considerable number of health and education employees are not reporting to work and several of them are out of the country, with others filling in for them.

Following this, the political agents (PA) of tribal areas and deputy commissioners (DC) of frontier regions have been directed to immediately begin the verification process of all absent employees of basic pay scale-15 and below, the press release added.

Within the next 10 days, all absent employees should be summoned to appear in person in front of a gazetted officer nominated by the respective PA or DC, the FATA Secretariat directed.

CNICs of these staffers will be checked with acquaintance rolls, i.e. locals will be contacted to verify if the person is from their area or not while photographs of the employees will also be taken to verify their presence at the agency they are deployed in.

Furthermore, the secretariat has ordered that the salaries of employees found absent should immediately be deducted for the period they were absent. They will not be allowed to draw salaries anymore.

The press release further added that any employee whose presence is not verified will be proceeded against under the Government Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2011.

“In case of wilful absence from duty by a government servant for seven or more days, a notice shall be issued by the relevant authority to their home address directing them to resume duty within 15 days,” the document adds.

If the notice is undelivered or no response is received, the government will publish another notice. “On the expiry of the stipulated notice period, removal from service may be imposed on the employee,” the press release stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2014.