LAHORE: The PML-N government continues to ignore the projects the PML-Q regime had initiated.

This can be borne out by the government’s ‘indifferent attitude’ towards the Rescue 1122 (Emergency Service) which is one of the key projects serving people in many cities of the province.

As many as 5,500 regular employees (from BS-1 to 18) are serving the public without any promotion channel mainly due to absence of the service rules, while 2,600 others are awaiting regularisation of the job.

The service rules of the employees could not be formulated since the establishment of this critical department due to “non-serious approach” of the bureaucracy, a senior official told Dawn.

Talking about the 2,600 employees, he said the services of these contract employees could not be regularised because the Punjab Emergency Service Council could not meet during the last four years. He said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the chairman of the Council and the Punjab home secretary is secretary.

CM-led council last met in 2010

The Punjab Emergency Services Act 2006 has empowered the Council to regularise the contract employees. Under the Act the Council is supposed to meet every year, he said.

The official said the Council had last time met in 2010 and 5,500 employees were regularised after it accorded approval in this regard. However, in the absence of the service rules and the Council’s lack of interest, the jobs of the employees of this Service are at grave risk.

They included emergency medical technicians, lead fire rescuers, fire rescuers, drivers, station coordinators, rescue and safety, control room in-charges, assistant directors and district emergency officers and assistant directors. Particularly the field employees and workers on front line are suffering a lot due to their risky jobs as they rescue people trapped in huge fires, floods, building collapse structures and roadside accidents but no one is ready to ‘rescue’ them from the unending departmental and administrative dilemmas, the official lamented.

He said the scale of injustice meted out to them could be gauged from the fact that 5,500 employees had been working on the same posts and designations as the ‘bureaucracy’ in the Rescue 1122 as well as the government keeps on employing delaying tactics in getting the service rules approved.

“One of the major reasons behind this foul play is that both the government officials and the senior management in the Rescue 1122 want monopoly,” the official said, adding that the Rescue 1122 officials had recommended many times a set of draft service rules but each time the Home Department returns it with certain objections.

He said the Rescue 1122 top management had been proposing service rules of its choice in order to retain hold on the employees, while the Home Department wanted amendments according to its own desire.

Recently, he said the Rescue 1122 sent a set of rules for approval sharing a new proposal that the promotion of 50pc of the employees of the Service would be made through the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). The Home Department again objected to the suggestion and sent it back to the Rescue 1122 to review it after analysing the service rules of other departments like the Punjab police.

Talking about discrimination, he said the Punjab Safe Cities Authority was established six months back and the government had approved its service rules but the Rescue 1122 is still without service structure as it carries the tag of the PML-Q government.

The official held the Human Resource Committee Management (HRCM) of Rescue 1122 responsible for recommending faulty service rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 Director General Arshad Zia, a retired brigadier, and other top officers are formulating the service rules afresh. They are these days preparing another set of rules with a new proposal according to which they should be empowered to “dismiss” the employees up to the rank of BS-17.

The official said if the same was recommended, it would irk the Home Department and the service rules would further be delayed.

Rescue 1122 DG Arshad Zia said two cases, a draft of service rules and regularisation of 2,600 contract employees, are pending with the Home Department. He said this time efforts were made more seriously to address the issues. “We are using the channel of Home Department for the regularisation of the employees instead of adopting option of the Punjab Emergency Council.”

The Deputy Director HR told Dawn that his department had recently sent another amended set of service rules to the Home Department for consideration. The Home Department met on Thursday and discussed the draft of rules and forwarded the same to its committee, he added.

“Although the issue has been pending for the last many years, we have made amendments in the larger interest of the employees,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2016