Fund-starved Environment Ministry delays salaries
Fund-starved Environment Ministry delays salaries
* At least eight Environment Ministry projects awaiting funds * Minister confesses funds shortage results in delay in salaries
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Amid uproar on environmental degradation and deafening slogans of international community to stop climate change, our Environment Ministry doesn’t have funds enough to run its projects, resulting into delay in salaries of about 250 employees for three-six months. Sources told Daily Times that eight projects of the ministry were facing shortage of funds. The projects in question include Environmental Education through Roaming Teachers (EERT), Forest Sector Research and Development Project (FSR & D), establishment of Project Planning and Monitoring Cell (PPM), National Conservation Strategy Resource Centre (NCSR), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), National Bio-Safety Centre and Multi Lateral Environmental Agreements Secretariat.The sources said full funds for these projects had not been released since September though some of them had got partial funding. Plight of unpaid workers: Around 250 employees, from Grade 1 to 19, associated with these projects had not received salary over the last three to six months, they said.A Grade 18 officer, requesting anonymity, said he had not received his salary for three months and that he was thinking of committing suicide out of frustration augmented by increasing debt and coming Eid. Other employees said the market had been so saturated that they could not switch jobs so they would continue at their present positions as the last option. Some of these employees said they were getting a salary as less as Rs 4,000, below the government-set benchmark of Rs 6,000 as the lowest salary.“In this age of skyrocketing inflation, it is very hard to survive without salary even for 15 days. Non-payment of salary for six months is a great disaster,” a Grade 1 employee said.A female employee said she had not received salary for six months. She said she was hired on contract for two years and the period was extendable for another two-year term subject to satisfactory performance. She said she and her colleagues were performing duties with full dedication and their bosses were satisfied with their performance. Others said their position was precarious in their families who expect something from them on Eid. Minister’s confession: When Daily Times contacted Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi to have exact information on the situation, he admitted that some officials had not received salaries over months. “I understand that my staff is suffering. But there is no fund to give them salaries,” he said.He said he had a great empathy with these unpaid workers and that government would ‘definitely not hold back any employee’s money’. He said the delay in salaries was caused by lack of funds.He said he was pursuing the matter seriously and was hopeful that the unpaid workers would get salaries soon.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\05\story_5-12-2008_pg11_2
* At least eight Environment Ministry projects awaiting funds * Minister confesses funds shortage results in delay in salaries
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Amid uproar on environmental degradation and deafening slogans of international community to stop climate change, our Environment Ministry doesn’t have funds enough to run its projects, resulting into delay in salaries of about 250 employees for three-six months. Sources told Daily Times that eight projects of the ministry were facing shortage of funds. The projects in question include Environmental Education through Roaming Teachers (EERT), Forest Sector Research and Development Project (FSR & D), establishment of Project Planning and Monitoring Cell (PPM), National Conservation Strategy Resource Centre (NCSR), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), National Bio-Safety Centre and Multi Lateral Environmental Agreements Secretariat.The sources said full funds for these projects had not been released since September though some of them had got partial funding. Plight of unpaid workers: Around 250 employees, from Grade 1 to 19, associated with these projects had not received salary over the last three to six months, they said.A Grade 18 officer, requesting anonymity, said he had not received his salary for three months and that he was thinking of committing suicide out of frustration augmented by increasing debt and coming Eid. Other employees said the market had been so saturated that they could not switch jobs so they would continue at their present positions as the last option. Some of these employees said they were getting a salary as less as Rs 4,000, below the government-set benchmark of Rs 6,000 as the lowest salary.“In this age of skyrocketing inflation, it is very hard to survive without salary even for 15 days. Non-payment of salary for six months is a great disaster,” a Grade 1 employee said.A female employee said she had not received salary for six months. She said she was hired on contract for two years and the period was extendable for another two-year term subject to satisfactory performance. She said she and her colleagues were performing duties with full dedication and their bosses were satisfied with their performance. Others said their position was precarious in their families who expect something from them on Eid. Minister’s confession: When Daily Times contacted Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi to have exact information on the situation, he admitted that some officials had not received salaries over months. “I understand that my staff is suffering. But there is no fund to give them salaries,” he said.He said he had a great empathy with these unpaid workers and that government would ‘definitely not hold back any employee’s money’. He said the delay in salaries was caused by lack of funds.He said he was pursuing the matter seriously and was hopeful that the unpaid workers would get salaries soon.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\05\story_5-12-2008_pg11_2
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