ISLAMABAD: Already suffering with non-payment of rental ceiling of the previous fiscal year, teachers of the Islamabad Capital Territory colleges have expressed their disappointment over the strategy adopted by the Finance Division in releasing the rental ceiling on quarterly basis. The finance division has decided to release funds to the Federal Government Departments on quarterly basis during the current fiscal year 2020-21.
Under this strategy, 25% funds will be released through Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) in the 1st quarter, 30% in the 2nd quarter, 25% in the 3rd quarter and 20% in the 4th quarter. Faseehullah, a lecturer at H-8 college said, "Under this new scheme, the rent of only two to three months will be disbursed in a quarter while landlords demand the lump sum payment of rent i.e. yearly or half yearly as per previous practice".
"As rent payments dwindle, teachers (renters) have been asked by their landlords to pay the rent from their own pocket. Due to the widespread economic crisis during the lockdown, landlords are pushing the renters out who are already suffering hardship," he said while talking to APP.
Professor Khalid Mehmood whose hiring case is pending with the Federal Directorate of Education for the last six months said, "I have been paying the rent from my own resources for the last over nine months. I have to borrow money to buying essentials, including food, clothing and to pay utility bills".
"I don't have money to face any unforeseen and emergency needs. Living in private hired house has become a nightmare for me," he added. Ayesha Kiran, a lecturer said "Under the Austerity Measures (2020-21) adopted by the Finance division, two sides of paper shall be used in all official communications.
It is ridiculous that on the one hand the government has instructed to follow austerity measures and on the other hand, cost of preparing the bills for AGPR will be increased four times due to quarterly preparation of bills which is against the principles of austerity. Secondly, repetition of the process of payment four times yearly will increase burden on already over-burdened AGPR and will be a wastage of stationary. She said all this process need extra staff to deal with the cases.
Professor Tahir Mahmood, a representative of Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) said, in the capital city, majority of the federal government servants hail from almost all parts of the country and bitterly need accommodation to live with their families.
In this situation, the recent policy of releasing budget in quarterly chunks has proved no less than a trauma and a nightmare for poor Federal Government employees. In majority of educational institutions, payments are due from one year back and now with the presently notified mode of payment, it is impossible to pay even a fraction of the total staff.
This situation will make it difficult for the teachers to feed their families and pay the owners of the hired houses from their meagre resources at the same time. Consequently, their working capacity will decrease, damaging the national cause. The Finance Division should revisit its new strategy of releasing funds bit by bit. Teachers who are already suffering from the backlog of rent should be given relief by paying the lump sum rental ceiling," he demanded.
When contacted, Deputy Director, Finance Division, Farooq Ghani said, We have not received any request so far from the concerned authority regarding exempting teachers from this strategy. However, if we get any request in written, will work on that to come up with a solution.