LAHORE :Expressing resentment over the transport policy of Lahore Development Authority (LDA), a senior officer has returned his official vehicle alleging the official transport facility of officers is manhandled and used for obliging favourites.
The officer who returned his official vehicle is a Deputy Director of BS-18, sources said, adding that he returned his vehicle LEJ-13-3020 some three days back and wrote a letter to LDA’s Director C&I. Sources revealed that all the deputationists in BS-18 after joining LDA got new and better vehicles whereas LDA’s own BS-18 officer either got 1000-CC car or assigned to use small vehicles.
Sources maintained that similarly the repair and maintenance of official vehicles of officers on deputation especially of grade BS-18 and above was being done on top priority whereas LDA’s own officials used to wait for months for approval as well as clearance of bills.
The letter written by LDA’s BS-18 official has become a top trend of gossip inside LDA and majority of officers circulated it on social media.
In his letter, the officer said “Refer to your Office Order No 4648 dated 14.02.2020, it is informed that the order is immensely inappropriate and against rules/merit/policy and may be withdrawn immediately. In the orders, official vehicle of a deputy director has been snatched and allocated to an assistant director to upgrade the already brand new car that was allocated to him with no replacement given to the deputy director or any reason given for taking away his entitled facility. Whereas, in the same orders, undersigned, another deputy director who went through the same agony vide your office order dated 23.11.2016 and has been waiting in line for more than three years to get a replacement for his own snatched car, gets allocated a small car citing an absurd and untruthful reasoning that no better car was available for undersigned.”
He said he wondered how many Grade BS-18 PMS officers have had the pleasure of driving a "Carry Dabba” in their careers, and if it is deemed an appropriate enough vehicle by your good self the same may be allocated to one of them working in LDA instead.
He alleged that the treatment of LDA officers as second grade citizens and children of lesser Gods need to stop. “It is very unfortunate that an official vehicle is considered as a right/entitlement for officers of other services but for LDA officers it is considered a carrot and stick reward and punishment entity used for pressurising young officers who have to go through the embarrassment of explaining to their families why their car was taken away all of a sudden,” he maintained.
The young officer questioned that if official vehicle is to be used as a punishment mechanism, LDA should at least give it some legal cover by adding it as a punishment in PEEDA Act and give the officers their constitutional right of not being punished unheard. In fact, why stop there, add official residences as a mode of punishment as well so that they can be thrown out of their houses if their performance is not up to the mark of their superiors, he suggested.
LDA has one of the best fleet of cars in a public sector organisation but one of the worst transport policies due to the lifetime in-charge of this cell who is only concerned with himself and his friends, he alleged, adding that LDA is the only organisation that uses a facility for demoralisation/discouragement purposes instead of encouragement of its employees. The only way to get an official vehicle in this organisation is to be in good books of DD Transport, even if you eventually approach Director General, LDA to get your rightful entitlement that you have been deprived for more than three years, you will fail because Transport Cell will manoeuvre DG's orders to humiliate you instead of facilitating you, he stated. Now, the Transport Cell is enhancing its exploitation power by forcefully snatching vehicles/drivers from people and adding them to Transport Pool so that DD transport can oblige himself and his friends. Undersigned is therefore returning the official vehicle as it is far better not to have a car than having to go through the torture of dealing with the Transport Cell, he concluded.
The scribe tried to contact LDA’s Director C&E and DD Transport but they didn’t attend their phones. LDA’s Vice-Chairman SM Imran while talking with The News said that ironically LDA has no proper transport policy due to which such complaints arise. He said as the issue is highlighted now, he will depute HR Committee of LDA’s Board of Directors to review the existing policy and amend it to ensure transparency.