SHC seeks report on payment of minimum wages to janitorial staff of cantonment boards

The Sindh High Court has directed the Sindh Minimum Wages Board to submit a detailed report and confirm whether or not the minimum wages of all the janitorial staff of the cantonment boards in Karachi have been paid to them since the date of their appointments.

The directive came during a hearing of a petition seeking the payment of minimum wages to all janitorial workers of the cantonment boards in Karachi.

A division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar observed that the cantonment boards had not complied with the directive it had given to them to confirm if wages of the janitorial staff of all cantonment boards were the same or otherwise. The court directed the counsel for the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) to submit a statement at the next hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, submitted that the minimum wage of Rs17,500 was being paid to the janitorial staff of the CBC since August 2020 in view of the orders passed by the court in the instant petition. He said most of the question raised in the petition had been resolved and the only question that remained to be decided now was whether or not the minimum wages of the janitorial staff of the CBC were paid to them with effect from their respective dates of appointments.

Private contractors said they had filed a statement in this regard. The petitioners’ counsel submitted that above aspect cannot be ascertained from the statement filed by the private respondents and suggested that the Sindh Minimum Wages Board be directed to submit a report before the court.

The high court directed the competent authority constituted by the government of the Sindh under minimum wages ordinance to submit a detailed report to confirm whether the minimum wages of all the janitorial staff of the CBC had been paid to them since the date of their

appointments.

It said such a report would be submitted strictly in accordance with the law after a proper inquiry and providing the opportunity of a hearing to all concerned. The court issued notices to the chief secretary and the board to submit a compliance report by November 19.