ISLAMABAD: The National Highways Council (NHC), the supreme body of the National Highways Authority (NHA), has accorded approval for necessary amendments in rules and regulation for extending support by the authority to the provincial departments, working for the relief of flood affectees.
Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Asad Mahmood presided over the meeting of the Council held at the Ministry of Communications to seek ways and means to further accelerate the relief and rescue operations being undertaken in affected parts of the country by the NHA and the Ministry of Communications.
The council directed the NHA to extend all possible assistance to the provinces and provincial departments engaged in relief and rescue operations during recent rains and floods situations throughout the country.
In an emergent situation, all the resources of the authority require to be utilised to facilitate the people in distress. Besides, on recommendations of the NHA Executive Board the National Highways Council reviewed the financial and administrative affairs of the authority and took decisions with regard to prevailing conditions of rains and subsequent floods.
The Council accorded approval for necessary amendments in rules and regulation for extending support by NHA to the provincial departments, working for the relief of flood affectees.
Federal Secretary Communications/ Chairman NHA Capt (retired) Muhammad Khurram Agha, senior officers of the Ministry of Communications and the NHA participated in the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Mahmood said, human life is the most precious and that it will be a source of pride for us, if the construction machinery, vehicles and other available resources of the NHA are utilised to facilitate the floods affected people on humanitarian grounds. He said rescue and relief operations will continue till the situation is normalised.
The engineers of the NHA stopped flood waters by placing an embankment in Tank region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which led to saving thousands of people and hundreds of establishments. Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services expressed a deep sense of gratitude to the construction experts and engineers of the authority for timely action in the emergency.
Practical advancement was also made in the meeting with regard to the regularization of the NHA’s contract employees in light of orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High Court, as well.
The meeting accorded approval of the regularization of employees who come up to the criteria. This long-standing complicated issue of the NHA’s contract employees has been solved now. Regularization of such employees will not affect the privilege and promotion of the regular employees of the authority.
The NHC also approved to create a special cadre for the employees to be regularized. Mehmood was of the view to follow the philosophy of facilitating human beings. He said, every official is not living alone, but through employment he is earning bread for his whole family. We desire to continue the employment of the officials, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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