Minister seeks plan on temps’ payment issue

Islamabad : Here comes a glimmer of hope for unpaid daily-wage employees, especially teachers, as Minister of Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood has asked the ministry’s secretary to come up with a plan on how to resolve the longstanding issue of the non-payment of salary to daily-wage employees, especially teachers.

The development occurs as the daily-wage teachers working at the Federal Directorate of Education schools and colleges in the Islamabad Capital Territory threatened to boycott duty from December 1 complaining they’ve not been paid salary for the past six months.

Taking note of the matter, the education minister directed the ministry’s secretary to formally suggest ways and means for the disbursement of dues to the temps. He asked the secretary to produce a report proposing how the ministry could pay the dues to daily wagers and in what time.

The minister said he wanted the early resolution of the matter for the relief of the employees concerned.

Employed by the FDE for around nine years, the daily-wage teachers of the FDE schools and colleges have long been demanding either posting to the vacant positions and creation of new posts for the rest, increase in the monthly salary of daily-wage teachers from current Rs14,000 to Rs30,000 in line with their contemporaries in Punjab and that of non-teaching staff members reasonably, or offering of job contract to daily wagers without the condition of selection on open merit and once that contract expires, permanent joining be given to their respective posts.