SAHIWAL: The Higher Education Department, on the direction of the chief secretary, has calculated the ‘financial implication’ and individual benefits to lecturers and assistant professors of four contract batches and 500 commerce teachers.

The four batches of academics are of 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2012.

Sources told Dawn that the government had worked out the cost of payments to contract batches to be around Rs334 million per annum. The Punjab government had already allocated funds for disbursement of the ‘pay protection’ amount among 6,500 public and commerce college teachers.

DPI Colleges, Lahore, Dr Ashiq Hussain told Dawn over phone that the individual data of four contract batches under the direction of HED letter No SO (B&F) MISC-40/2021-22 of July 7 had been finalised and sent to the authorities concerned.

Chaudhry Ghulam Murtaza, convener of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association’s (PPLA) Pay Protection Committee (PPC), confirmed that the chief secretary office had approved the demands of the teachers who organised a 37-day sit-in (March 7 to April 12) outside the Civil Secretariat.

According to PPLA Punjab Additional Secretary Faiza Raana, the HED’s Budget and Finance Wing had calculated the amounts on an individual basis and consolidated the figures.

Sources said the HED, the provincial law department and the S&GAD (Regulation Wing) had earlier worked out the financial impact on a collective basis but the chief secretary office sought details of individuals this time round.

Around 6,000 public sector teachers and 500 commerce college teachers were inducted on a contract during Musharraf regime. Later, the PPP’s federal government in 2008 abolished the contract system and formed a federal policy. At that time, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif did not implement the federal policy in Punjab while the other three provinces regularised their contract employees.

The matter became a bone of contention among stakeholders and many teachers moved courts against the non-implementation of the federal government policy. Subsequently, the Punjab government regularised contract teachers of four batches after a gap of five to seven years. Those of 2002 and 2005 were regularised in 2009 and the employees of the 2009 and 2012 batches were regularised in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Murtaza said although the teachers were regularised, their “pay was not protected” at that time. The PPLA organised two major protests -- first for five days in front of the Punjab Assembly in 2019 and the other for 37 days outside the Civil Secretariat in 2022.

He said it had been a longstanding demand of the PPLA and Rs334 million per annum was a minor amount, demanding that the chief secretary ensure pay protection of the teachers.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2022