PESHAWAR, Aug 20: Thousands of federal and  provincial government employees recruited on contract basis have been denied the 15 per cent raise announced in the federal and provincial budgets for 2003-2004, government officials acknowledged.

The contract employees who, like regular employees, were waiting for getting the promised 15 per cent raise in their salaries were disappointed when told last month that the announcement was not applicable to them. “We were waiting eagerly for the raise and look what has come out — a big disappointment”, said a contract employee.

The employee described the denial of raise in salary to them as discriminatory. “We put in the same amount of time and energy and offer similar services. We are not entitled to pension and gratuity. At the very least, we should have been given some compensation and treated at par with regular government employees. It is ironic that while our regular colleagues have been given the raise, we have been denied it. Are they the only victims of price hike?” he asked.

An official in the NWFP finance department when approached for comments said the issue already had been raised with the federal government.  “The official circular by the finance division covered the regular employees only. There was no mention of contract employees so we have approached the federal government for clarification,” he said.

He said the provincial government had sent  three reminders to the federal government on the subject but the reply was still awaited. “We get numerous queries from contract employees. Naturally, they want to know why they have not been given the raise but we can not do anything unless we hear from the federal government,” the official said.

An official in the federal finance division dealing with the subject acknowledged it had received letters from provincial governments seeking clarification whether the raise was equally applicable to the contract employees. “This is not only the predicament with the provincial governments. There are federal employees who are on contract and have not received the raise. The issue will be discussed at the highest level. But so far there is no decision to communicate,” he said.

The official replied in the negative when asked whether the case was being processed. “It has not been processed and no discussion has taken place on the issue,” he said.

The NWFP government has employed hundreds of people both on fixed pay contract and three-year contract basis.  Senior Minister Sirajul Haq pledged before the NWFP Assembly in the last session that the contract employees would be given all facilities and treated as regular employees including promotions into the next higher scales except pension.

The  opposition in the NWFP Assembly has  submitted  a requisition with the acting speaker to discuss among other things the contract policy which, they believe, is discriminatory and unfair.

An opposition leader said they would push the government for the regularization of services of contract employees. Hundreds of doctors and other skilled people are currently working on contract jobs in the NWFP government.

The official in the provincial finance department admitted the contract employees also deserved to be given the raise. “This is natural justice and fair play. The contract employees serve the same hours of time and perform similar duties as others. If they don’t get the pension, at least they need to be given raise at par with regular employees,” he remarked.

The official in the federal finance division conceded the federal government was mindful of the situation with regard to contract employees. Chances are that they would get the raise with retrospective effect,” he remarked without committing when the announcement was likely to come. “I can not give you any date,” he said.