Delay in salaries, non-payment of raise irk DMC Korangi staffers

More than 4,000 employees of District Municipal Corporation, Korangi, have not been paid the 10 per cent raiae that was announced by the government in June 2018.

Sources in the district administration say it is not the first time that this 10 per cent increase has been delayed. Last year, the administration did not pay the increased amount for three months. After three months, they started paying it.

The administration does not assign any reason for this delay, says an employee of the district on condition of anonymity. It is not only the delay in the payment of 10 per cent raise but the salaries of employees are also delayed every month. In all other districts, the salaries of employees are paid between 1 and 5 of every month, but here it has become a routine to release salaries after the 22nd day of every month. “We can wait but could the schools where our children study wait for the fee? Can we delay paying utility bills that fine you if you do not pay on time? said a Christian sanitary worker of the district, wishing to be unnamed.

“My landlord has been demanding the rent and when I tell him that my salary is delayed, he does not believe it, saying it is not possible because all government employees are paid salaries on time,” said another employee of the district who works in a library.

“We appeal to Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar, Minister for Local Bodies Saeed Ghani and other concerned officials to take notice of the situation and ask the DMC Korangi to release our 10 per cent rise and make sure our salaries are paid on time,” said a desperate worker, who drives a dumper in the district.

Financial crunch

DMC Korangi Chairman Nayar Raza, talking to The News on Tuesday, said his corporation was unable to pay these arrears as the Sindh government was not sending in the required money.

“If we pay the arrears, then how would we be able to do the development works?” he asked. Raza said the demand of the employees was justified, but until the Sindh government paid up the arrears, the corporation could not pay its employees.

Samia Shah also contributed to this report