The verdict also listed the possibility of nepotism and favouritism in the inductions. PHOTO: FILE
Fallout from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision to void the regularisation of government employees by the NA subcommittee on the cabinet could seriously affect healthcare in the capital.
At the Federal Government Services Hospital, better known as Polyclinic, no less than 86 contractual employees were regularised and all of them could be on the chopping block once the court order is implemented.
According to documents available with The Express Tribune, of these 86 contractual employees, 43 are doctors and the other 40 are nurses. Of the doctors, 41 are medical officers, while in terms of specialisations, two are assistant dental surgeons, two are physiotherapists and one is a psychologist.
How we got here
On July 20, 2011, the Polyclinic administration issued a notification under which all contractual employees were regularised effective from June 29, 2011, after recommendations of the Khurshid Shah-led subcommittee were approved by then-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani.
Then, on May 29, 2014, Islamabad High Court Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui gave a verdict on a petition filed by National Highway Authority (NHA) regular employees seeking deregularisation of contractual and daily wages employees whose statuses were changed by the 2011 subcommittee decision.
The IHC declared that the cabinet subcommittee is not mandated under the law and constitution to regularise the services of employees inducted in government or semi-government departments as well as statutory bodies, or to assume the role of appointing or competent authority.
The IHC decision stated that the cabinet cannot evolve a procedure, introduce any policy or adopt a mechanism which is in direct violation of statutory law, the constitution, or the principles of natural justice, fair play and transparency.
The verdict also listed the possibility of nepotism and favouritism in the inductions.
What it means for Polyclinic
The court’s directions left the door open for the regularisation or at least continuing employment of staffers who fulfilled the prescribed qualifications and entered the organisation or department through competitive process against sanctioned vacancies.
A senior Polyclinic official told The Express Tribune that the Capital Administration and Development Division has not provided any directions on how to implement the verdict, nor has the hospital administration made any moves on its own.
When asked if the hospital could allow staffers who were transparently hired on contract and later regularised to stay on, he said, “Only the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) or the National Assembly (through an act of parliament) are authorised to regularise contractual employees,” he said.
He claimed that a “majority of these doctors were appointed due to nepotism and other unfair means”, adding that the list contains the names of people whose spouses are hospital employees.
Though this will aggravate the shortage of doctors and nurses in the hospital, it will be in favour of those who actually deserve to be appointed against these posts, but lack political backing, said the official.
Polyclinic spokesperson Dr Tanveer Malik refuted the claims of nepotism and said that the employees were selected on merit and were regularised against vacant posts through proper procedure.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2014.
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