Technical Education Authority employees appointments

Tevta has no plans to regularise employees
Lahore, Nov 28: The Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) has no plans to regularise its BPS-1 to 15 employees serving on contract basis under the Punjab government's Oct 14 notification that ordered appointments on a regular basis in relaxation of the relevant service rules.

Tevta's BPS-1 to 15 employees are protesting that the authority administration was not regularising them on the basis of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's announcement and consequent notification issued by the regulations wing of the services and general administration department (S&GAD) on Oct 14.

The employees said the government's notification was clear with regard to their regularisation, which says: "In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by rule 23 of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, the Chief Minister, Punjab, is pleased to order appointments, on regular basis, in relaxation of the relevant service rules, of the employees in BPS-1 to 15, recruited on contract basis under the provisions of the Contract Appointment Policy issued by the S&GAD in 2004 against the posts presently held by them in various government departments of the Punjab, with immediate effect. However, the contract employees working against posts in various projects/programmes/PMUs/ PMOs and other time-bound (one time) development activities shall not be covered by this notification."

When contacted, Tevta chairman Saeed Alvi said the authority would not regularise its contract employees because their appointment did not fall under the purview of the Oct 14 notification.

Alvi said the authority had sought advice from the S&GAD regulations wing, which explicitly told that the Oct 14 notification was not meant for Tevta as it was working under a different ordinance and rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, All Tevta Contract Employees Punjab (ATCEP) has formally requested the Tevta chairman to regularise authority's all contract employees and sent the copies of the application to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court, prime minister, Punjab chief minister, Punjab industries minister, Tevta senior officials and all newspapers.

In the application, the ATCEP stated that, unfortunately, Tevta contract employees had not been regularised by the authority. They stated that Tevta was a government body and was funded by the Punjab government. They said that all rules and regulations were applied on all autonomous bodies/departments mentioned in the notification.

In addition, it said, the Chief Justice of Pakistan had also declared that no teacher should be on contract. It said that Tevta contract teachers (junior instructors, instructors, lecturers, senior instructors, assistant professors and principals) were also part of the Punjab industries department.

The ATCEP said a number of MNAs and MPAs had also supported its cause and had given their recommendations on separate applications addressed to the chief minister.

Therefore, the employees contended that all Tevta contract employees including teachers and administration staff should be regularised so that they could work with utmost devotion. It said the Tevta teaching staff was well qualified and market-oriented and had shown extraordinary performance in the department. "We have served several years under Tevta but still not being considered for regularisation," they regretted.

They urged the authorities concerned to regularise their contract services immediately so that they could be able to devote themselves to their duties with added enthusiasm and professionalism.

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1,400 Sindh schools made functional again
Dadu: Around 1,700 schools buildings were identified across Sindh which were not viable schools.

They had been constructed on the pretext of schools by previous governments but were being used as grain godowns and Autaqs. Of them the government had made 1,400 schools functional and 300 primary girls and boys schools were still closed which would be re-opened, Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq told journalists on the concluding day of Urs of Yar Mohammad Kalhoro in Khudabad on Friday.

He said 35,000 teachers would be recruited for the re-opened schools. He said that due to acute shortage of teachers, education officials were facing problem to open the closed schools. He deplored that many teachers were not performing their duties and getting salaries at homes. He said the district government had failed to own schools, which was a main problem for the education department after the devolution plan.

He said that monitoring of schools had been started and he was paying surprise visits of schools. He said some schools were over-staffed. In Qasimabad, during a visit, he found that a girls primary school consisting of five rooms had enrolment of 222 and 51 teachers posted.

He said he had transferred half of its teachers to other schools. He said a cadet college at Khudabad would be constructed and the Sindh chief minister had released funds. Answering a question about condition of tombs and caves of historical graveyard of Mian Yar Mohammad Kalhoro, he said that he had approached the prime minister and requested him for aid-in-grant for general repairs of shrine and compound wall to protect the historical site.

The premier had approved the grant and sent him a copy of the approval, but the concerned department was not taking action, he said. He said that funds for repair of the mosque had been also released but work had not been started yet. Replying to a question about coalition partner MQM ,he said that in coalition government minor matters happened.

He said that cases had been registered during the two tenures of the Nawaz Sharif government, which were neither withdrawn nor processed. He rejected allegations of MQM leader Saleem Shahzad against the PPP.

He said that the NRO was for political purposes; it was up to the Supreme Court to decide on the law after Nov 28. He said the home minister had talked about 3,500 to 4,000 cases against MQM leaders and activists which had been withdrawn. The cases included kidnapping for ransom, murders and other heinous crimes. He also said that a few of them might be wrong.

He said it was up to an individual's choice to wear his cultural dress or not. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wore dress of Sikh but Indian people did not object. Dawn

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Muslims should focus on education
Lahore: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has wished heartily Eid greetings to all teachers, students and employees of the university. In his message on this occasion, he said Eid-ul-Azha gives the lesson of sacrifice and obedience of Allah Almighty to all Muslims of the world. Allah has urged the Muslim in the holy Quran to focus on education and research.

He said today Muslim Ummah was confronting numerous challenges only one reason of which was that the Muslims have been detracted from their path of higher education and research. He said in the past there had been great Muslim researchers, inventors, thinkers, philosophers and creators of the new knowledge but today Muslims were lacking far behind in the education world.

Dr Kamran aid on this special occasion of Eid Muslims should make the commitment to themselves and to Almighty Allah that they would once again focus on education and research because in today's knowledge-based modern world no one could survive without higher education. He said Muslims should get ready for any kind of sacrifice for themselves in education and research.

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Prayer timing at PU mosque
Lahore: Eid-ul-Adha prayer at Punjab University Jamia Mosque, Quaid-e-Azam (New) Campus will be offered on Saturday, November 28 at 8:30 am. The Eid sermon will be delivered at 8:00am. Mufti Hafiz Abdul Basit Khan will lead the prayer. The university buses will leave for mosque at 7:45 am from campus colony. F.P Report

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Road safety education
Lahore: City Traffic Police in collaboration with the Imperial College of Business Administration (ICBA) organised a seminar on road safety and traffic rules to create awareness among students of various educational institutions, here at Alhamra Cultural Complex.

DIG, Traffic Lahore Usman Khattak, SP Traffic Muhammad Asif, Director ICBA Hanif Anjum and others addressing the students of ICBA, Trust School, Thanet Hall School and Al-Noor Cambridge School stressed the need for promoting awareness about traffic laws at community level. DIG Usman Khattak termed the training of road users especially the students as an essential element to minimise the risk of accidents.

He appreciated traffic police and educational institutions for organizing such seminars to educate future generation to obey the law of land. Khattak said the traffic police had provided training to more than one million persons including students regarding road safety and traffic rules.

SP City Traffic Police Muhammad Asif and ICBA Director Hanif Anjum urged the students to utilize all of their capabilities to promote law abiding culture in society and make the roads a secure place to travel. APP

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