LARKANA, March 5: Seven officers of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Larkana, whom the chairman BISE Larkana had suspended in the light of the inquiry report filed against them on February 28, were reinstated on Wednesday.

The inquiry was conducted by the chairman of Secondary Board, Karachi, after the Sindh Governor had ordered for it.

Those reinstated included: Abdul Rehman Chandio the inspector of colleges, Muhammad Khan Bhatti the audit officer, Fakhuruddain Abro deputy secretary, Hafiz Shafiqur Rehman Soomro deputy controller, Zaheeruddain Bhutto, Allah Wasayo Larik (assistant secretaries) and assistant controller Sikandar Mirjat.

The stand-off began between the chairman and the employees after 63 employees protesting over the recruitment made about six months ago wrote to the Governor of Sindh challenging the process of appointments.

The Singh Governor had appointed chairman Secondary Board Karachi as inquiry officer who conducted it but the employees objected over the pattern of inquiry saying that it was held ‘unilaterally’, where they were not heard.

The suspensions triggered protest and the employees locked out offices, held a general body meeting, demanding early reinstatement of the suspended employees.

The talks between the representatives of All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) unit of BISE and the Board’s management remained fruitless, which further deepened the crisis. The employees of BISE Sukkur, Hyderabad also joined the APCA Larkana’s protest. It prompted the chairman BISE Larkana Professor Mushtaque Ahmed Sundrani to write to the controlling authority on March 3.

The chairman on March 5 (Wednesday) reinstated the seven suspended officers in the light of the letter No. GS/10(5)27/2003(SOIII)207 he had received today from the secretariat of Governor of Sindh and in view of the statement and regret given by them (officers) during the personal hearing on March 3.

The chairman in the order said that the matter would be placed before the Board of Governors in the next meeting for getting the appropriate decision in the light of the letter received from Governor on February 2, 2008.

Following the reinstatement, APCA called off the strike and would resume duties on March 6 (Thursday). They disputed that they had not filed ‘regrets’ which had been mentioned in the letter.

Sikandar Mirjat Assistant Controller of examinations BISE Larkana told ‘Dawn’ that he would file objections with the chairman over the use of word ‘regret’. Our stand regarding the recruitment of 37 employees in violation of the set rules, stood unchanged, he said.