Sindh cabinet approves hiring interns to meet shortage of college subject specialists

The Sindh cabinet meeting on Thursday presided over by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House discussed and decided 26 agenda items, including approval of draft Act for appointment of vice chancellors, approval of hiring intern teachers and recruitment rules for the provincial police service to create a provincial police cadre. The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, Acting Sindh Chief Secretary Qazi Shahid Parvez and others.

VCs and intern teachers

The cabinet discussed and approved the draft Search Committee Act 2021 for the appointment of vice chancellors and other officers at the public sector universities in the province. The committee in question could be constituted by the chief minister comprising Sindh Higher Education Commission chairman, universities and boards secretary, college education secretary, and two co-opted members from relevant category of university to be nominated by the government from a panel of five persons sent by the chairman.

The functions of the search committee, according to the draft law, include prescribing recruitment criteria for vice chancellors, scrutinise and shortlist the applications in the light of the criteria, holding interviews of shortlisted candidates and recommending a panel of three most suitable candidates to the CM for final selection. The cabinet approved the bill and referred it to the assembly.

The meeting was also told that 318 higher secondary schools, both of boys and girls, were facing acute shortage of subject specialists for classes XI and XII. Officials said that the requisition for appointments against these teaching posts had been sent to the Sindh Public Service Commission but it would take time.

The cabinet decided to hire interns on the need basis purely on merit. The meeting approved that an internship allowance amounting to Rs50,000 per month shall be provided to the interns subject to satisfactory performance.

The interns would neither be regularised nor appointed on a contractual basis. The hiring period would be till the joining of a regular subject specialist. Of 1,500 internees, 240 would teach physics, 240 chemistry, 120 mathematics, 120 botany and zoology, 240 English, 60 Pakistan Studies, and 60 Islamiat, Sindhi and Urdu.

Police recruitment

The home department informed the cabinet that it had drafted recruitment rules for the posts of senior ranks from superintendent BS-18 to additional IGP BS-21 in the Sindh police.

The appointment against the posts of senior ranks below the rank of Inspector General of Police shall be made in accordance with the respective recruitment rules made under the Sindh Civil Servants Act 1973.

Additional IGPs (BS-21) would be appointed by promoting DIGs (BS-20) having minimum 22-year service in BS-17 and above, including three years in BS-20, on a seniority-cum-fitness basis.

DIGs (BS-20) would be appointed by promoting senior superintendents or AIGPs (BS-19) having minimum 17-year service in BS-17 and above, including three years in BS-19, on a seniority-cum-fitness basis.

SSP/AIG (BS-19) would be appointed by promoting superintendents (BS-18) having minimum 12-year service in grade BS-17 and above, including three years in BS-18, on a seniority-cum-fitness basis.

SP/ADIGP (BS-18) would be appointed by promoting deputy superintendents (BS-17) having at least five-year service on a seniority-cum-fitness basis.

SP/ADIGP (legal-BS-19) would be appointed by promoting prosecuting deputy superintendents (BS-17) having at least five-year service on a seniority-cum-fitness basis.

The cabinet was told that the constitution and the Pakistan Police Service Rules 1985 did not bar the provincial government from making the subject recruitment rules nor did they suggest concurrence of the federal government as the matter of policing or police service was not included in the federal legislative list.

It was said that the legislative competence of police had been declared to be exclusively in the provincial domain by the Sindh High Court and the same attained finality at the level of the Supreme Court.

After a thorough discussion, the cabinet decided to constitute a committee under Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh with other members being Industries Minister Ikramullah Dharejo, Law Adviser Murtaza Wahab, advocate general, chief secretary, additional chief secretary home and any co-opted member to examine the proposed recruitment rules and present their report within a month.

Other decisions

The cabinet authorised the senior member Board of Revenue to depute any officer to remove encroachments together with the structure, if any, raised on public properties.

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities presented a policy on ‘Adopt a Special Education School Programme’ in the cabinet saying that it would enable them to benefit from the expertise of the private sector. The period of adoption may range between three to five years. The cabinet approved the policy with the instructions to bring professional and experienced parties to adopt the schools.