KARACHI, Feb 16: Some 160 dismissed employees of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) who had been dismissed from service would be shortly absorbed into various departments of the city government , the city nazim, Niamatullah Khan, told Dawn.

The nazim, who recently reinstated 283 employees in the KWSB against vacant posts said he had already asked the officials concerned to make immediate arrangements for absorbing the remaining 160 or so employees into various departments of the city government on humanitarian grounds.

Of the total, 1,107 employees of the KWSB who were dismissed from their service in 1998, 513 had appealed to the Supreme Court against their termination from service. They were reinstated two years back after getting a verdict in their favour from the court.

With regard to the remaining 534 dismissed employees who had not approached the court, the Sindh government had issued a notification, urging the city government to reinstate them against vacant posts either in the KWSB and town municipal administrations.

Sources said that the remaining dismissed employees could, however, be reinstated in various city government departments, as there were a number of vacant posts against which they could be absorbed.

However, sources in the KWSB said that with the recent reinstatement of 283 employees in the KWSB, all vacant posts there up to grade 16 had been filled, and as such, the departmental promotion committee (DPC) set up recently by the nazim for considering promotions of the KWSB employees (from grades 1 to 16) had been rendered ineffective.

"Only the DPC set up for promotions of officials of grade 17 and above could meet to finalize their promotions, as vacant posts now exist only for them," the sources said, adding the main cause of resentment among the water board officials of the KWSB was because of inordinate delay in their promotions.