Federal govt restrained from acting against Pak-PWD employees

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday sought reply from the federal government in a petition of employees of the Pakistan Public Works Department (Pak-PWD) against their planned golden handshake and restrained it from taking any adverse action against them.

The petition, filed by Pak-PWD employees Noor Zamin Shinwari and others, was heard by a two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Ijaz Khan Sabi.Counsels for the petitioner Barrister Amir Javed and Barrister Saqib Raza informed the court that the said department had some 6,000 employees from grade 1 to 22, who had been protecting and taking care of 17,694 government properties and installations.

They pleaded in a recent session, the federal cabinet chaired by prime minister greenlit the proposal to abolish Pak-PWD based on the Ministry of Housing and Works’ recommendation.They said that this initiative not only paved the way for the establishment of the Pakistan Infrastructure Development Company to oversee about 13,500 federal development projects but also handed over these projects to the Communication and Works Department of the provinces.

The restructuring plan, they added, also involved the creation of the Asset and Facility Management Company, which would take over maintenance and repair functions previously handled by Pak PWD.

The lawyers argued that over 7,000 Pak PWD employees would be transferred to appropriate ministries, along with the introduction of a ‘Golden Handshake Scheme’ for eligible staff members.

They said that this scheme was designed to offer a lump sum payment and extended benefits.The counsels termed the federal government policy of golden handshake illogical and illegal and prayed the court to declare it null and void.