Physical verification of government employees lamented across Fata

KHYBER AGENCY: In compliance with the instruments from the Fata civil secretariat, the Agency Education Office of Khyber Agency completed the process of verification of all the male and female teaching staff much to the objection of a majority of female staff and reservations expressed by the general public about achieving the desired results.

In a directive issued by the Fata Civil Secretariat a week ago, all the government employees working in various government departments across Fata were required to appear before officials of their concerned department for physical verification.  The directives were issued in light of mounting criticism by general public about habitual absence of the government employees from their respective departments. It was also alleged that a good number of government employees, especially in the health and education department had taken up lucrative jobs in gulf and other countries.

The Agency Education Office and the Khyber Agency political administration while in their bit to show efficiency and urgency in completion of the assigned task, asked all the male and female teaching staff to appear before the concerned officials at their offices at Jamrud and Landikotal but most of the employees didn't appeared for physical verification as they were not informed at the right time.

Female staff in Landikotal was required to abandon their official duties and travel to Jamrud from far off lociliates like Sheen Pokh and Prang Darra in Loey Shalman and Kharghali,situated on the Afghan border. 

Sources in the AEO office said that some female teachers were seen carrying their infant babies and then waiting for hours at the vanue of verification where the arrangements for the ladies staff were also insufficient. 

Ali Ahmed of Prang Darra told The News  that he had to spend Rs. 6000 to bring female members of his family for physical verification in Jamrud. The two women of his family, he said were Class-IV employees at the girls primary school adjacent to his house.

A female teacher,requested not to be named,said that AEO Atiqur Rehman himself appointed illegally Landikotal AEO.Asking the high ups for inquiry,she said that according to posting law AEO must not be from the same tehsil he was supposed to be appointed.

Amroz Khan,a resident of Sheen Pokh area in Loey Shalman said that his request for verification in Landikotal was denied by the concerned officials despite his repeated demands. He said he spend Rs. 5500 to bring the female staff of the girls school in his village. 

When approached, Assistant Agency Education Officer (Female) Ms. Waheeda said that she too was not in favour of asking the female staff to appear in person at the Jamrud office. She said that though a number of the abstaining teachers were either dismissed from their jobs while many more were issued show cause notices in near past,  the on going process of verification would not help in achieving the desired results.

She said that instead spot verification would have positive results as it would prove as to whether a certain teacher was attending to his or her duties or not.

It was interesting to know that Ms. Waheeda was not even aware about the actual strength of female staff at the government schools in Jamrud and Landikotal.  

It was also interesting to know that despite closure of more than 80 percent of the government schools in Bara sub division, the entire staff, both male and female at these schools were verified as present on their duties. 

Agency Education Officer Ateequr Rehman also expressed his displeasure over the 'flawed' procedure of verification and said that his advise was not sought when the said procedure was devised. "It was a mistake and I opposed it when I came back from my visit to Tirah", he clarified. 

Haji Hukam Jan, a local elder said that the authorities conducted the exercise in a haste and the female staff was made to suffer both physically and financially by asking them to travel to Jamrud from far off localities. 

He said that physical appearance at the AEO office would not expose those who were habitual absentees as they were still not regularly attending to their duties and had taken a day out of their alternate occupations to appear before the concerned officials and obtained a 'bogus clearance certificate'.