The local government has imposed a ban on recruitment of daily wager in municipal corporations, municipal committees and district councils of Punjab.
The directives issued by the Section Officer (Admin) dated August 7, 2019 stated, “It has been observed with great concern that local governments were found indulged in hiring daily wage/work charge employees in violation of the earlier directions.”
Subsequently, such hired employees claimed themselves as workmen and invoked the jurisdiction of labour court to declare them permanent workmen under the provision of the industrial relations act 2010. Consequently, LG&CD Department is revelling reference from the local government for the reaction of post in their respective schedule of the establishment so as to regularise services of the daily wage employees.
It is further stated that strict disciplinary action shall be taken in case recruitment is made on a work charge/daily wage basis by the local government or request is forwarded to this department to cover up the violations committed by the local government for justifying unauthorised recruitment of daily wage employees. The directives regarding the ban on the recruitment of daily wage employee is sent to all administrators and chief officers of municipal corporations, municipal committee and district councils in Punjab.
Ghulam Muhammad Naz – Chairman, All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation (APLGWF) – expressed concerns over the ban on recruitment of daily wage employees and said that 90 percent of the daily wage employees working in the Municipal Corporations are those who are serving as sanitary workers, and these workers play an important role in the cleanness of every city.
He added, the policy of hiring daily wage employee was adopted to fulfil the requirement of the sanitary workers.
Earlier, the local government in notification No Admn.II (LG)4-98/2007 dated May 18, 2016 imposed a ban on hiring daily wage employees but it was also stated in that notification that these workers will be hired on contract bases in future but neither the government obeyed that decision not the members’ parliament elected on minorities seat raised voice for the right of these employees in parliament. Naz in his open letter to the Prime Minister Imran Khan has demanded to regularize the sanitary workers according to the decision of the honourable courts.
