Forced postings: Health ministry given month to accommodate staff
Members of DCHE had moved court against postings to Islamabad.
A petition was filed against the secretary, deputy secretary and section officer of the NHSRC. PHOTO: http://nhsrc.gov.pk/
ISLAMABAD:
Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) officials have been given a month’s notice to resolve the matter of forced postings of junior staff of the Directorate of Central Health Establishment, from Karachi to Islamabad.
A case was filed by 17 staff members of the directorate on July 10 at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi in his decision against the NHSRC termed the postings illegal and ordered the ministry officials to accommodate unwilling staff back in their home city, Karachi.
Barrister Raja Saifur Rehman, representing the DCHE staffers said that the judge had simply ordered the ministry to implement its own order issued on September 12, 2014, according to which the staff unwilling to move to Islamabad was supposed to be retained as surplus pool in Karachi.
A petition was filed against the secretary, deputy secretary and section officer of the NHSRC and the Establishment Division stating that the respondents were currently in violation of the order issued on September 12, 2014.
According to a copy available with The Express Tribune, the petition stated that all petitioners were appointed to serve in Karachi and that the order of transfer of the DCHE and its employees was passed by an incompetent authority thereby making the whole exercise unlawful.
Similarly, it stated that no one except the prime minister was authorised to take the decision of shifting of the directorate, and a proposal of this kind needed mandatory permission from the Establishment Division.
The DCHE that remained operational in Karachi for 35 years was shifted to Islamabad in June 2014, despite unwillingness of its staff.
Officials at the health ministry were not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2015.
Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) officials have been given a month’s notice to resolve the matter of forced postings of junior staff of the Directorate of Central Health Establishment, from Karachi to Islamabad.
A case was filed by 17 staff members of the directorate on July 10 at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi in his decision against the NHSRC termed the postings illegal and ordered the ministry officials to accommodate unwilling staff back in their home city, Karachi.
Barrister Raja Saifur Rehman, representing the DCHE staffers said that the judge had simply ordered the ministry to implement its own order issued on September 12, 2014, according to which the staff unwilling to move to Islamabad was supposed to be retained as surplus pool in Karachi.
A petition was filed against the secretary, deputy secretary and section officer of the NHSRC and the Establishment Division stating that the respondents were currently in violation of the order issued on September 12, 2014.
According to a copy available with The Express Tribune, the petition stated that all petitioners were appointed to serve in Karachi and that the order of transfer of the DCHE and its employees was passed by an incompetent authority thereby making the whole exercise unlawful.
Similarly, it stated that no one except the prime minister was authorised to take the decision of shifting of the directorate, and a proposal of this kind needed mandatory permission from the Establishment Division.
The DCHE that remained operational in Karachi for 35 years was shifted to Islamabad in June 2014, despite unwillingness of its staff.
Officials at the health ministry were not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2015.