Policy being framed to regularise contractual government employees

The government is formulating a new policy to regularise contractual employees in different public, autonomous and semi-autonomous organisations and performance of each employee would also be reviewed. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab informed the National Assembly Friday that the government believes in protecting basic rights of each and every citizen and providing basic necessities of life to the people.
He was responding to a calling attention notice moved by Muhammad Muzammil Qureshi. Aftab said the federal cabinet approved regularisation of government employees from grade 1-15 on June 4, 2008. The government also directed all the ministries and divisions to regularise their contractual employees, he said.
"As many as 66,555 employees were regularised," he said, adding that those who were not regularised have moved the court against the decision. The cabinet secretary has been directed by the court to review the cases of the contractual employees and submit a report within 15 days, he said. "The government is also reviewing cases of the contractual employees and no employee would be deprived of his due rights," he said. To a question, he said that some organisations were still not paying any allowance to their employees as announced by the finance minister on the floor of the house.
Aftab urged Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi to give a ruling to bind the public organisations to pay the allowance to their employees as committed by the government. To another calling attention notice moved by Khalida Mansoor regarding land sliding on Thandiani-Patan Khurd National Highway and non-removal of debris for the last 10 years, he said the matter doesn't come under the purview of the federal government. "It is responsibility of the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government to remove the debris from the road and ensure smooth flow of traffic on the national highway," he said.
He, however, said that the federal government will write a letter to the KP government to highlight the issue. Later winding up the debate on the President's address to joint sitting of the parliament on June 2, Aftab presented a long list of the government achievements in the last one and a half year. He said the government has effectively pursuing terrorists in the tribal areas of the country and the armed forces were trying their best to destroy network of terrorism by launching an operation against the militants.
Talking about the energy crisis, he said that had the previous governments launched energy-related projects, Pakistan would not have faced long hours' blackouts today. "The government is struggling not only to overcome the energy crisis but also trying its best to slash the electricity prices," he said. Aftab said the government is also focused on improving economic condition of the country and Pakistan would soon be an economic tiger of Asia.
All constitutional bodies are working in their ambit and there is no political crisis in the country, he said, adding that it was all due to the independent judiciary and vibrant media. Responding to it, MQM member Abdul Rashid Godial said that Sheikh Aftab should not make tall claims about performance of the governments as all these claims are against the facts.
"The family politics has got nothing to do with the democracy and democratic norms," he said while taking a jibe on Sharif family. On a point of order, MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj raised objections over National Food Security and Research Standing Committee report that was presented in the House on Thursday. He said the Lower House should have a debate on the report under Rule 37 of the National Assembly but it was just approved. "There is no mention of the issue in the report that I had raised in the National Assembly," he said.
Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi said the report is being presented to the relevant standing committee on demanded of Hiraj; so that all the relevant issues could be addressed. Pakistan Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad also gave a brief appearance in the National Assembly during the Question Hour.