|
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has warned the
Sindh government of joining a protest of over 7,000
sacked employees of the Education Department if they
are not restored and regularised through a bill in
the provincial assembly.
As many as 7,187
low-grade employees were denied extension under a
notification issued by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali
Shah on August 20, 2010. They, hired on a
contractual basis for three years, had been working
at different public-sector schools in the province
since 2007.
MQM’s Raza Haroon,
who is also the provincial IT minister, gave this
warning while taking part in a heated debate during
a session of the assembly on Monday, which erupted
between the MQM and the Pakistan People’s Party over
the contract employees protesting to press the
authorities to regularise them.
Haroon said they had
assured the protesting employees of resolving their
grievances on behalf of the chief minister and the
governor of Sindh after his party delegation, led by
Dr Farooq Sattar, had held a meeting with PPP
leaders at the Chief Minister House from 10am to 4pm
on the issue.
It was agreed during
the meeting that the issue would be resolved through
the House within a week, he added.
The debate soon
turned to claims and counterclaims on what exactly
transpired at the meeting at the Chief Minister
House, where, besides Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Pir
Mazhar-ul-Haq, Ayaz Soomro, Syed Sardar Ahmed and
Raza Haroon were present.
The MQM reiterated
that an agreement between the two parties and the
employees was arrived at during the meeting, whereby
the employees’ services were to be regularised
through some legislation.
The PPP contended
that the recruitment of these employees by the
previous government was improper and thus it was
fair to invite them for fresh interviews.
However, Speaker
Nisar Ahmed Khuhro pacified the two sides by
announcing the formation of a committee to look into
the matter.
The committee,
comprising Pir Mazhar, Murad Ali Shah, Syed Sardar
Ahmed and Raza Haroon, will submit its report on the
matter during the current session of the assembly.
PML-F’s Nusrat Abbasi
had triggered the debate in the first place when she
demanded of the education minister to tell her when
the government was going to fulfil its promise of
regularising the over 7,000 employees of the
Education Department.
The chief minister,
responding to her question, said the government had
announced soon after coming to power that it would
scrutinise the recruitments done under the previous
government. However, the thing turned out to be
quiet complicated, he said.
Shah said the
provincial government had 100,000 contractual
employees, and it would be unfair to the other
employees if the government regularised the
employees of the Education Department while leaving
the rest in the lurch.
He said the
government was also under the obligation of a Sindh
High Court order for treating all the employees
equally.
In fact, even the
Constitution demanded that all should be treated
equally, the chief minister added.
Furthermore, there
were the financial implications of regularising the
services of the employees mainly arising out of the
devastating floods, compelling the government to
reduce its development budget from Rs115 billion to
Rs77 billion, Shah said.
He said the
government had a policy of not sacking any employee
as it did not want to increase the unemployment
rate. He said their services would be regularised in
accordance with the relevant procedures and rules.
Shah reiterated the
government’s stand that the previous government had
violated procedures during the recruitment of those
employees.
“Laws are applicable
to all, and we will not make any exceptions in this
regard.”
The chief minister
alleged that someone had misguided the protesting
employees, adding that such “subversive” attitude
would not be tolerated.
He asked what was
wrong in the government’s asking those employees to
appear in interviews and get themselves regularised
in due course on the basis of their performance.
The MQM’s
parliamentary leader, Syed Sardar Ahmed, while
saying that the condition of interviews was not
acceptable to the Education Department employees,
again recalled that the issue had been resolved at
the meeting at the CM House, where it was agreed
that the employees would be regularised through a
bill in the assembly.
Ahmed said they had
made a commitment with the employees on behalf of
the chief minister and the governor of Sindh. “The
commitment needs to be honoured.”
Education Minister
Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said the employees would be
regularised under the “parameters” set by the
Supreme Court. “We are not going to terminate their
services,” he said.
“We will sit together
and regularize them through legal procedures.”
Ayaz Soomro, the law
minister, said no one would be rendered jobless, but
the government was scrambling to deal with the
problems arising out of the floods, and it needed
some time to get this issue resolved.
|
