KARACHI, Feb 17: Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has granted an extension of six months in the service period of about 3,500 schoolteachers whose three-year contract had expired in November last.
This was stated by Sindh education secretary Hashim Leghari on Thursday. He said the chief minister ordered the continuity of the service of the teachers after a meeting with a teachers' delegation.
Under the directives of the chief minister, these teachers, appointed in 2001 as junior school teachers (JSTs) and high school teachers (HSTs), would get their salaries with retrospective effect.
They would be entitled to the amount they had been receiving during their earlier contract period, he added. The contract teachers have been demanding regularization of their jobs, and to press the authorities for the acceptance of their demand, they had also staged demonstrations and observed hunger strike.
A source in the education department said the authorities were of the view that the contract teachers had shown positive results and recommended they be regularized on the posts in the urban and rural areas.
For regularization of the teachers, the education department had already moved a summary for the approval by the chief minister. The summary was also examined by the Sindh finance department.
Mr Leghari told Dawn that his department had responded to the queries and reservations of the finance department on the issue of contract teachers and it was hoped that the matter pertaining to the regularization of teachers would be finalized in due course of time.
According to a Sindh government handout, the chief minister pointed out to the delegation that the Sindh government would consider the cases of hard working and competent contract teachers for regularization, provided services of contract teachers were regularized in other provinces. Following the meeting with the chief minister, the teachers called off their hunger strike in front of the Karachi Press Club.
RELIEF GOODS FOR RAIN-HIT PEOPLE
RELIEF GOODS: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim on Thursday dispatched a truck loaded with relief goods for the weather-hit people of Balochistan, adds APP. The relief goods were collected by workers of the Pakistan Muslim League, Hyderabad. The relief items included flour, pulses, oil, ghee and blankets.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the recent rains had caused huge losses in many areas of the country. He said the people of Sindh and the government expressed sympathy with all the affected people. He said he was grieved over the losses of life and property in Balochistan.
GRANT FOR PUNJAB: The Sindh chief minister has also expressed his grief over the losses caused by the recent rains and snow in Murree and Kotli. He announced a grant of Rs10 million on behalf of the Sindh government for the victims.
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