GUJRAT: The Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) has slashed the half salary of at least 160 staffers of the Arazi Record Centres (ARCs) for participating in the last month’s strike, sit-ins and shutting the centres across the province in November.

The salaries of these staffers, which include the service centre in chrage (SCI) and service centre officials (SCOs) have been slashed on the orders of the PLRA Additional Director General Malik Sajjad Khan who had also sacked at least 21 staffers last week.

Though around 3,000 PLRA field staffers had observed a two-week long strike and around 500 of them had also staged a sit-in in Lahore demanding pay increment, job regularisation, service structure etc.

Meanwhile, the Arazi Record Centres Union Punjab (ARCUP) condemned the 50pc pay cut for 160 officials and termed the decision victimisation of those who raised their voice against the “injustices” of the authorities.

Employees union terms it victimisation

The union leaders vowed to challenge the decisions of the acting DG in the court of law for which, they said, consultation with their legal advisers was underway. They said they would raise the issue with senior government officials through elected representatives.

They added that the law officer concerned had stated before the Lahore High Court on November 25 the last that no adverse action would be taken against the staffers involved in the agitation but they were still being victimised.

Additional DG Mr Sajjad told Dawn that the action of slashing half salary of 160 staffers for the month of November had been taken on the basis of information provided by PLRA’s vigilance and intelligence cell that had declared them as “trouble makers” who instigated their colleagues to join agitation.

He added that rest of the field staffers were ready to provide services to people that was why action had been not been taken against them. He claimed that the action against 160 officials was taken also for being absent from their duty for two weeks.

Meanwhile, a delegation of World Bank (WB) identification mission has concluded its week long visit to Punjab for the urban land record computerisation as the provincial government had sought WB funding for the purpose.

Earlier, the land record of rural areas of Punjab had been computerised with the funding and now the government required $70million more for the project’s completion.

The WB identification mission stayed in Lahore almost for a week during which the delegates held meetings with the Punjab minister for land revenue, senior hierarchy of the PLRA, management of Behria Town, DHA and Model Town. They also met with secretaries of various departments, representatives of the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general and others.

The WB will decide the matter of provision of project funds on the report of identification mission that reached Islamabad on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2019