PRA employees protest for salaries, regularisation

LAHORE
Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) employees, who collected over Rs 100 billion General Sales Tax (GST) on services for the last three years since its inception, held a protest camp against non-payment of their salaries and for regularisation of their jobs.
Over 140 employees, who were appointed in Grade-IV to Grade-16 in different cadres during the last three years having maximum MPhil degrees, are working on daily wages in the PRA, the major authority of tax collection in the province for development projects.
The protesting employees have established their camp outside the PRA Headquarters at Danepur Road, GOR-I, just around the entrance gate of GOR in which CM Secretariat is established, to press their demands for releasing their last month salary and regularising their jobs.
The PRA employees were not paid salary for the month of May despite they worked late hours in the budget making exercise.
The employees were compelled to start the protest against the PRA after the authority did not pay them salaries even the half month of June has also passed. The employees established the camp to convey their message to the chief executive of the province.
Interestingly, the PRA top bosses came from different cadres of bureaucracy have flouted the CM’s orders for regularising the contract employees of various projects. The CM’s letter SO (ERB) 5-3-2014/Contracts(Project) dated July 23, 2014 has instructed the bureaucracy for the appointment of employees of different projects on regular basis after conversion of project from development to non-development side.
The protesters were demanding for their rights while the high-up of the PRA were sending messages through their ‘messengers’ to call off their protest otherwise be ready for a baton charge and consequences of their agitation.
The most unfortunate situation with the daily wagers is that some of the well educated youth having MBA, MPhil, LLB, post-graduation and graduation degrees are working on Grade IV of gardener position to Naib-Qaisd post.
Ms Saima, LLB Graduate, sitting in the protest camp, told The News that she was unable to understand why the government had adopted such attitude with them. “We are educated youth and we are not getting our rights, which means we will not give education to our kids as they will not get their rights too”, she questioned.
Faizan, a young handicapped boy, an MBA degree holder, said the CM is claiming that he is promoting youth in province, but the government’s behaviour with the PRA daily wagers is against the reality.
Yasir, an MPhil, working as a gardener, said his degree is meant for gardening.
Kashif, who got admission to MPhil Finance, said he was considering leaving the idea of further study as the situation in Pakistan did not allow him to get higher studies.
Meanwhile, PRA Chairman Dr Rahil Siddiqui visited the protesters’ camp for negotiations. He tried to convince them and said he was working on PRA service structure as no service structure existed in the PRA through which the daily wagers could be regularised. He told the protesters that Rizwan Fahim Kiyani, a treasure of the PRA, who looked after salary matters of the daily wagers, had delayed their salaries and on his this negligence he was transferred to Rahim Yar Khan.
He asked the protesters to come back to the office and get their salaries and start their work. However, the employees refused to accept his proposal.
Later, the protesters constituted a six-member team to negotiate with the PRA, but talks between the team and PRA remained inconclusive.
Dr Rahil Siddiqui said the service structure for the daily wagers was not developed in the PRA while the daily wagers did not take up the issue with his predecessor Iftikhar Qutab, founder of the PRA. He said now the PRA was working to develop the service structure for the daily wagers which was a time taking process.