PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday issued a stay order suspending action on the elementary and secondary education department’s order to give class-IV employees of government schools the 24-hour multiple tasks, including those of guard, watchman and gardener.

A bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Irshad Qaiser ruled that the notification of the education department in this respect would remain suspended until further orders.

It also issued notice to the elementary and secondary education secretary asking him to file a written response on the petition filed by class-IV Employees Association president Akbar Khan Mohmand against the said order.

Sardar Ali Raza, lawyer for the petitioner, said following the terrorist attack on the Bacha Khan University Charsadda in January, the education department had issued directives to the respective district education officers to assign multiple duties to class-IV employees in educational institutions.

He added that the DEOs later issued circulars asking class-IV employees to perform round-the-clock duties in schools.

The lawyer said currently, class-IV employees performed multiple duties at government educational institutions, including those of guard, watchman, gardener, office assistant and sanitation worker, and got extra allowance for that.

He said last month, the high court had declared illegal an almost identical order issued by the Nowshera education department for schools to ensure that watchmen or guards perform 24 hours duty and that they would be held responsible in case of any untoward incident on campus.

The lawyer said it was next to impossible for the class-IV employees to perform duty for 24 hours. He stated that when such employees went for taking rest the officials of independent monitoring unit of the education department used to mark them absent from duty and deductions were made from their salaries.

RESPONSE SOUGHT: The bench on Friday directed the provincial chief secretary and health secretary to file comments within a fortnight on a petition seeking ban on the visit of VIPs to government hospitals during emergencies, especially those caused by acts of terrorism in the city.

The directions were issued during the hearing into a petition of Pakistan Medical Association provincial president Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, who said political leaders had regularly been delivering speeches during visit to the public sector hospitals in emergencies and thus, hampering the treatment to the injured.

Saifullah Mohib, lawyer for the petitioner, said in case of the visit of VIPs, including politicians, to hospitals following the bomb blasts, the nearby roads were blocked for security reasons and thus, adversely affecting the treatment of the injured.

He said the provincial government had issued a notification on Dec 26, 2015, announcing no unnecessary protocol should be observed in such circumstances to the inconvenience of general public but even then, practices like blocking of roads continued.

The lawyer said the visit of VIPs to hospitals also adversely affected the performance of health professionals, who had to leave patients unattended to take care of VIPs.

He said recently, the chief minister visited the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, along with PTI chief Imran Khan due to which all facilities to the injured were blocked.

The petitioner requested the court to direct politicians, bureaucrats and government ministers, including the chief minister, not to visit hospitals in emergencies.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2016