ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) started collecting data of vacant posts, alerting employees of the civic agency, who think this move is aimed at abolishing the posts.

CDA has over 19,000 approved sanctioned posts from grade 1 to 20 and out of total around 7,500 are lying vacant.

“Employees union criticised decisions including the outsourcing of the CDA Hospital and the Sanitation Directorate, the abolition of vacant posts within the organisation and recruitment through third-party contracts,” says a press release issued by CDA Mazdoor Union, CBA.

The management of the CDA recently collected information from Human Resource Department (HRD). This step caused unrest amongst employees who feared that the CDA management was going to abolish vacant posts.

This prompted the Employees Union to hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday. Sources said that the employees were also planning to file a petition in court against the move.

Last year, the CDA decided to fill 191 posts through competitive process and tests were conducted by Nust. Later, in December last year, interviews were also called, but till date the CDA has not issued lists of successful candidates. Recently, the federal ombudsman office directed the CDA to issue lists of those who passed interviews.

On the other hand, the process for the hiring of three directors general is at the advance stage as the CDA wants to appoint three new DGs, preferably retired commissioned officers of BPS-20.

Despite stay orders, informal interviews were also being conducted. On the other hand, the promotion of CDA’s own cadre employees from BPS-19 to 20 is pending for the last around two years.

“CDA administration should ensure consultation with employee representatives while implementing court decisions and administrative reforms,” said Union General Secretary Chaudhry Mohammad Yaseen.

Speaking at the meeting, which was chaired by Union President Aurangzeb Khan, Mr Yaseen said the workers’ representative body remained committed to safeguarding employees’ rights and resolving workplace issues through dialogue.

He expressed concern over what he described as the administration’s failure to fully implement labour laws and court decisions, which he said had created unrest among workers.

He alleged that the current management was not ensuring consultation with the collective bargaining agent (CBA) as required under the National Industrial Relations Act and was pursuing policies viewed by the union as detrimental to workers’ interests.

The union leader demanded the reversal of the decision to abolish vacant posts, the reactivation of the Joint Work Council and strict compliance with court rulings and labour laws to maintain industrial harmony and address workers’ concerns.

Mr Yaseen said the Joint Work Council remained inactive, resulting in unresolved employee grievances. He maintained that despite rulings by the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC), measures such as outsourcing and rightsising continued to be pursued.

According to a press release, the union criticised decisions, including the abolition of vacant posts and recruitment through third-party contracts.

“Union warned that if its demands were not addressed, it would exercise its legal and democratic rights to advocate for employees’ interests through all available forums,” read the press release.

When contacted, CDA’s spokesperson Shahid Kaini confirmed that data of vacant posts is being collected, but added this move is a ‘routine matter’.

“The collection of vacant posts data across all CDA formations is a routine administrative exercise aimed at assessing the authority’s current capacity and financial efficiency. This process falls under the government’s broader rightsizing and restructuring policy, under which the need for long-dormant or nonessential positions will be assessed against operational requirements. The move is not a blanket abolition of all vacancies, but rather a targeted restructuring aligned with federal government commitments to fiscal prudence,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2026