Controversy surrounds KPCTA board meeting

PESHAWAR: Controversy surrounds the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) board meeting over service regulation and salaries of contract employees of defunct Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The KPCTA Board of Directors (BoD) is set to convene its 4th meeting today, Dec 20, 2024 (Friday), under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. However, serious concerns have been raised regarding the agenda involving KPCTA and TCKP employees. A tussle between the two entities has undermined the authority.

According to sources, there is a consideration to regularise the contract employees transferred from the Tourism Corporation to the Tourism Authority. Agenda item 3 seeks approval of the service regulations 2024 for contract employees transferred from TCKP to the KPCTA. An official argues that this proposal is redundant as the BoD had already approved Service Regulations in 2020. Additionally, they claim the move violates Section 8, Subsections IV(b) and (c) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Act 2019.

The act stipulates that employees retained from TCKP would work on long-term contracts, which critics believe is undermined by attempts to regularise these employees through the new regulations. Observers warn that such regularisation cannot proceed without amending the Tourism Act 2019, which is yet to be addressed in the proposed agenda.

Furthermore, concerns have been raised over agenda item No 2, which deals with salary increases for contract employees retained from TCKP. Reports suggest that for the past two years, salaries for 20 fixed pay employees were enhanced without prior approval from the BoD. The situation has raised questions about procedural compliance and financial accountability within the authority.

Sources within the tourism sector have expressed concern that such actions could set a problematic precedent and risk undermining the credibility of KPCTA.

In response to these concerns, KPCTA MD Tashfeen Haider has clarified that the earlier regulations approved by the Board applied only to employees hired under Section 32 of the Tourism Act 2019 and those on deputation. The TCKP employees were not covered under these regulations, leading them to file a writ petition in court. “The court directed the Board to address the grievances of TCKP employees,” the MD said. “In the second BoD meeting, it was decided that the terms and conditions for these employees would remain the same as they were in TCKP. The new Service Regulations 2024 are fully aligned with the Tourism Act 2019 and reflect the court’s judgment as well as Board decisions.”

He also emphasised that the status of TCKP employees will remain long-term, as explicitly stated in the new regulations, and there is no concept of regularisation in either the Tourism Act 2019 or the Authority. Addressing the issue of salary increases, KPCTA clarified that all salaries and budgets have been approved and endorsed by the Board from time to time.

Tashfeen Haider dismissed the allegations of procedural violations and termed them “false and contrary to facts.” He asserted that the new regulations, as well as salary adjustments, comply with Sections 8(iv)(b), 8(iv)(c), 31, 32, and 56 of the Tourism Act 2019. “Everything mentioned can be cross-checked with the Tourism Act,” he added.

He said as the board prepares to deliberate on these contentious issues, stakeholders await the outcome, which could shape the authority’s governance and its efforts to promote tourism in the region.