FDE - a hurdle or mediator for employees of Education Ministry?

Director at ‘Facilitating Forum’ becomes demigod

Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is allegedly fast becoming a hurdle in the way of getting the problems of the employees serving in the Education Ministry being run under the aegis of Capital Administration and Development Division (CA&DD) these days.

The said directorate was set up originally as a forum to mediate, facilitate and smoothen the processing of applications, promotions and transfers cases so as to avoid wastage of time. However, the directors at FDE have become demigods and are becoming a source of tension for the teaching as well as non-teaching employees, sources told.

The promotion of ‘Accountants’ serving in Model colleges of Islamabad is a case in point. These accountants were deprived of their right to promotion in 2005 when all non-teaching staffers like LDC, UDC, Assistants and Head Clerks were upgraded from grade 5 to 7, 7 to 9, 9 to 11 and 11 to 14 respectively. The accountants serving in the Model Colleges were however, deprived of this chance and they are still serving in grade -11.

Against this discriminatory treatment, the accountants went to Federal Services Tribunal (FST) which decided in favour of the employees on which the Establishment Division approved the upgradation and referred the case to FDE.  The Director General marked the case to the Director Administration, FDE Tajammul Hussain Bukhari who has proved to be red-tape personified as reported by an insider.

The file has been begging to be noticed as it lay on his table for the last three months now.

An insider told this scribe that Director Administration, FDE has pronounced it in clear words that the notification and letters for upgradation of these ‘poor’ accountants of Model colleges will not be prepared until the accountants serving in the FG set up institutions win their cases from FST and similar orders are received in their cases too. “We do not have so much time to spare for these petty workers and all the orders will be issued collectively, no matter how long we have to wait,” he was reported to have said according to an insider.

The employees working as Accountants have been going through mental agony for many a month now as they feel wronged, deprived of their right as the same cadre workers in AGPR were upgraded from grade 11 to 14 first and then from grade 14 to 16 having the same qualification.

“If FDE cannot facilitate its workers, it should not at least obstruct the facilitation being offered by the high ups by causing unnecessary delays,” pleaded a worker requesting anonymity.  These workers have demanded that FDE should be abolished altogether if the government servants sitting in the directorate do not cease behaving like bureaucrats and demigods. When contacted, DG FDE confirmed that he has ‘marked the file and forwarded it for necessary action’ to Director Administration, Tajammul Hussain Bukhari.