ISLAMABAD: Four years after devolution of tourism ministry to provinces under the 18th Amendment which virtually paralysed the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), the government has decided to adjust hundreds of its employees in other federal departments, Dawn learnt here on Wednesday.

According to a notification of the cabinet division, which is currently managing affairs of the country’s premier tourism development organisation, employees of the PTDC will be accommodated in other departments.

The subject mentioned in the notification issued on Oct 8 reads: “Adjustment of employees of all categories working with PTDC in other ministries and departments of federal government.”

The decision indicates that the federal government has decided to hand over trillions of rupees worth of assets (motels and resorts in different parts of the county) to the provinces on the basis of their geographical status.

Employees of the PTDC have welcomed the government’s decision and pinned hopes of getting monthly salary they have been deprived of for almost two years.

According to sources, the government has decided that 300 PTDC employees inducted by former managing director Shahjahan Khetran during the last PPP tenure will also be adjusted. Mr Khetran is facing a court case for the appointments.

They said the issue of appointment of 300 employees, which is also being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), had also been brought to the notice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the premier had given approval to confirm them in the PTDC.

“We are happy to hear that all of us will no more be useless and will be sent to other government organisations to do something,” a senior PTDC official, Anayat Ali, said.

He said that more than 1,000 PTDC employees had not been paid salary for over two years because of ambiguity over whether the PTDC would remain under the federal government or it would be devolved to provinces.

The architect of the 18th Amendment, Senator Raza Rabbani, told Dawn that the ministry of tourism was devolved to the provinces in the second phase of the devolution process but neither the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government nor the present PML-N government had implemented the law in letter and spirit.

The number of PTDC employees is said to be over 1,000, about 400 regular and 600 contractual employees. The number of daily wage employees associated with motels and resorts are said to be in thousands.

According to a source, the federal government is reluctant to hand over the corporation’s assets and its resorts to the provinces. On the other hand, the provinces seem to be eager to take over PTDC assets and resorts and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was the first to occupy all PTDC motels and resorts located in the KP.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014