After repeated attempts, our group which represents around 1700 daily-wage employees has finally managed meet Director General (DG) Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) deemed him as ‘the saviour’ in payment of our 6 months outstanding salaries but in vain.
This was said by a 35-year-old daily-wage lecturer who teaches in one of Model Colleges of the FDE. Instead of giving us some kind of hope, he said, the DG Syed Umair Javed threatened us for dire consequences if we hold any kind of protest against non-payments of our salaries which is our due right. “Not directly, but DG circuitous told us be patient and don’t go for any kind of strike or protest”, the lecturer told Daily Times. The daily-wage employees of FDE including teaching and non-teaching perturbed when they came to know about rejection of supplementary grant summary for payment the salaries by Finance Division.
According to the sources, the FDE, through ministry of federal education and professional training, a few weeks ago forwarded a draft summary to Finance Division in which the Directorate demanded Rs 113 million as supplementary grant so that the salaries could be paid.
However, the summary was rejected by the Division contented that there are no funds available for this purpose. “The Finance Division officials said that the FDE already has provision of such funds due to which no need to release of new funds as the Division is already facing financial crunch”, said an official in the FDE privy to whole development.
The rejection made worried to these daily wagers and they become anxious as most of them were not being paid since June this year while rest remained unpaid since August. After which they planned and managed to hold a meeting with the Directorate chief with request of seeking relief over the issue but in vain.
The FDE official disclosed that despite objection, the FDE once again sent summary to Finance Division through education ministry with same subject request last week, adding that its mere the way to linger on the matter instead of giving some solid solution towards plight of wretched employees.
The daily-wage teacher said that they are now completely despondent. “After several years struggle and fight we now exhausted and unable to understand what to do and where to go for help”, he regretted.
Despite repeated attempts by Daily Times, acting DG FDE Syed Umair Javed was not available for comments. However, he claimed in a statement that after once rejection by Finance Division, he has again moved the request to release of these salaries. “The regularization of employees from grade 1-15 was referred to cabinet which has made a committee on it”, he added.
According to the available information initially there was over 2000 daily-wage employees inducted in 423 educational institutions of the FDE to fill the gap of staff deficiency almost a decade ago. However, many among them quit their jobs when they found no hope for regularization. Currently, the number rest to around 1700 employees including both teaching and non-teaching.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government had introduced a policy for contractual employees and daily wagers of the federal government. A sub-committee of the cabinet under chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Shah was formed to further discuss the devised policy, and the committee directed regularisation of 100,000 daily wagers, who had been working in various federal departments and ministries.
However, the FDE daily-wager found no fruit under this committee and their regularisation matter would become a hard-hitting issue with each new day for the authorities concerned.
The desperate daily wagers staged several protests to press the authorities for their rights in the past. It is pertinent to mention that some of incumbent government representatives, who were in the opposition in previous government tenure, had been stood with these employees in their protests. Special Assistant to Prime minister Imran Khan Ali Awan and former Finance Minister Asad Umer are one of them who attended each protest and demonstration of these employees when Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was in power. Besides protests, several other forums including parliamentary standing committees, Supreme Court, High Court and lower courts served their decisions in favor of these employees in light of Khursheed committee precedent.
In recent, a three-member SC bench remarked that “all daily-wage employees should give joining applications in their respective departments”. In case any department refused to give the joining, they should file a contempt of court pea in the IHC”, the bench asked the employees.
