30,000 posts for minorities lying vacant, Supreme Court told

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday expressed concerns over non-filling of vacancies in public sector departments on minorities’ quota and sought a comprehensive report from federal government as well as provincial chief secretaries in this regard.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, was hearing a suo-moto case regarding the Rahim Yar Khan temple attack. The chief justice observed that the court was informed that the federal, Punjab, KP and Balochistan governments were not recruiting minorities according to the quota.

Shoaib Suddle, head of one-man commission formed over the matter, informed the court that currently 30,000 posts for minorities were lying vacant across the country. He said that a 5pc quota was allocated for minorities in the government sector jobs, adding that the government job quota for minorities did not specify Hindus, Christians, Sikhs or others.

The court directed the federal government and the provincial chief secretaries to cooperate with the Suddle-led commission, adding that the relevant authorities should take prompt action on minority employment issues and submit a report in that regard.

The court also acknowledged that the Rahim Yar Khan temple had been rebuilt following the attack. The CJ acknowledged the services of agriculturist and politician Raees Munir Ahmed, who donated 10-kanal land to the Punjab Police for setting up a police station in Bhong.

The CJ said Raees Munir was ready to give another 25 acres of land as a gift for the construction of Sadiqabad Interchange on Multan-Sukkur Motorway. The court directed the chairman of the National Highway Authority and the planning secretary to appear in person at the next hearing and inform the court about the construction of the Sadiqabad Interchange.

The chief justice also expressed grave concerns over the condition of highways and motorways and asked the NHA chairman if he had seen the condition of the roads. The chief justice said that he had been told that the Chitral-Gilgit Highway had been constructed three times on paper.

In Sindh, the chief justice said the motorway was just on papers, and no restrooms had been built on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway. Meanwhile, the court also sought a report from the KP government about re-construction of Karak temple.

The NHA chairman when told the court that steps were being taken for improvement of highways and motorways, the CJ told him to travel on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway to experience for himself the sufferings of travellers on that section of the main road. “You should come prepared on the next date of hearing as you will have to answer all the related questions,” the CJ asked the NHA chairman and adjourned the hearing.