Daily-wage workers: Regularisation unlikely in near future

The official said the S&GAD had to face numerous problems in collecting the information

LAHORE:

Regularising the services of daily wagers or work-charged staff for various projects and project management units is not possible in the near future, the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) has informed the chief minister through a letter written last month.

An S&GAD official said the department was collecting data on work-charged employees. He said it was unable to report the number immediately.

“Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered the S&GAD’s Regulation Wing to prepare a list of work-charged employees at government departments across the province.”

The official said the S&GAD had to face numerous problems in collecting the information.

The chief minster has been informed that several district administrations and development authorities do not have the complete records. Many departments have not sent the data despite being requested several times, the letter reads. It says the jobs could not be regularised in the absence of information regarding their ages, qualification and experience.

The letter says there are more than one policy directives for regularising the jobs of contract and work-charged employees. It says the policies contain provisions for extending the contract or regularising the services of contract employees on the basis of their performance. It says services of most of the contract employees have been regularised.

It says daily wagers are hired for short periods and that their services are not required after the project they are hired for.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.