Saving their jobs: New appointments in MNCH project stayed

Lawyers says employees have worked have sufficient experience

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday temporarily restrained the provincial government from making new appointments in the Mother, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) project.

The stay order was issued after 297 employees working as doctors, lady health visitors and medical technicians filed a petition against the government’s plans to recruit new staff and sack them (the petitioners) from service.

Sardar Ali Raza, the counsel for petitioners, told the court his clients had been working in the K-P MNCH project  since 2006. Moreover, in 2012, the high court restrained the provincial government from removing them from service until June 2015 when the project expires.

According to Raza, after the devolution of ministries under the 18th Amendment, these employees come under the ambit of provincial government.

“Since MNCH, Expanded Programme on Immunisation and other projects have been integrated, the provincial government wants to recruit new staff for this programme,” he said. “This will affect staff members who are already working on the programme. This is a form of discrimination as the current employees have sufficient experience.”

Raza urged the court to accept his clients’ petition and said these employees should be included in the integrated programme. After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court issued notices to the provincial government and issued a stay order on the appointment of new employees.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2015.