Ombudsman Punjab orders to salaries, allowances to the lecturers

Lahore: Ombudsman Punjab, Khalid Mahmood has provided protection to the previous salaries and allowances of all the lecturers selected through Punjab Public Service Commission, who were earlier regular school teachers and ordered the Accountant General Punjab and all the districts accounts offices to fix salaries of all such lecturers afresh and in the light of notification of Punjab government, include the allowances of their previous service and other incentives in their new salaries and send to ombudsman office.

According to the details, lecturers of Faisalabad and Okara have submitted an application to Ombudsman Punjab that they were recruited as lecturer on contract through Punjab Public Service Commission in 2005 while they were working as regular school teachers. After two years, their services were regularized as lecturers but during the fixation of their salaries, the allowances and other incentives received by them as school teachers were totally neglected. Services and General Administration Department also issued a circular for granting allowances and incentives to all such teachers on August 2, 2007 but district accounts offices are not ready to implement the circular issued by Punjab government. According to the lecturers, Accountant General Punjab first accepted the decision of giving allowances on their application but later changed his stance on the request of district accounts offices. Ombudsman Punjab Khalid Mahmood directed consultant Ombudsman Punjab Wazir Ahmed Qureshi to enquire into the matter. Wazir Ahmed Qureshi after listening to the stance of Finance Department Punjab, Accountant General Punjab and district accounts offices, termed the demands of allowances and incentives of the lecturers legally and morally correct and wrote that after appointment of the applicants as lecturers, their grade was increased but their salary became less as compared to previous one. Ombudsman wrote in his order that the lecturers were treated discriminately and they were selected teachers for higher education but their salary was reduced.