In the most severe cut in higher bureaucracy in Punjab, Chief Minister Najam Sethi has reportedly ordered laying off highly-paid retired contractual employees in various departments, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources in the Punjab Secretariat confirmed that directions had been passed on to the chief secretary, while the services wing would issue the notification in this regard today (Wednesday).
The sources said names of Law Department Secretary Syed Abulhassan Najmi, Law Director Mohsin Abbas, Punjab Police consultant Major (r) Mubashar Ullah, Lahore Walled City DG Kamran Lashari, Lahore Waste Management Company Board Chairman Ahmad Rafay Alam, Metro Bus Authority MD Sabtain Fazl E Haleem, Provincial Ombudsman Javaid Mehmood, Rescue 1122 DG Dr Rizwan, the Punjab Forensic Science Agency DG and Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Raja Anwer.
They said most of these officers had been working under the MP-1 and MP-2 scales. These scales were introduced by the previous regime to take benefit of human resource from the private sector.
“Far higher salaries were introduced against these scales to attract brains from the private sector who would otherwise not join the public sector on regular pay packages,” he said, adding that the decision makers had been using it to “accommodate” their blue-eyed retired officers.
“Although many officers are actually contributing in the government sector, many are only enjoying hefty salaries,” he added.
Interestingly, the salaries in the MP-1 and MP-2 packages run in hundreds of thousands of rupees. “The metro bus authority head for example is being paid Rs 300,000 per month while he has no previous experience of working on such a project,” a source added.
The move has caused panic in the rank and file of the bureaucracy.
While the news is yet to be notified, the services wing, however, terminated 12 contractual employees of the chief minister’s secretariat on Tuesday. These employees included grade 16 and grade 17 officials such as Ataullah Tarar, PSO to CM and security coordinator Major (r) Muaz.
Ahmad Rafay Alam, however, strongly dispelled the impression saying that he was elected by the board of directors of the LWMC after former chairmen resigned.
“I’ve decided to dedicate my time and energy to the city I live in and like so much without getting even a single penny in return. Besides I was neither hired by the government, nor can I be fired, I was elected by the board and hence I think the entire story is false,” he said, adding that the recently issued SECP directions for public sector companies required the chairman of boards to be independent.
Services Secretary Syed Mubashar Raza also maintained that no such move was in the offing. “Twelve contractual employees of the CM’s secretariat have been removed but no such move for these officers has been deliberated, as all of whom have been hired by the book according to Contract Employment Policy 2004,” he added.