PESHAWAR: Employees of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Monitoring Authority (EMA) on Monday demanded that the provincial government withdraw the show-cause notices and introduce a proper service structure for them.
Speaking at a press conference, provincial representatives of the EMA, including Israr Ahmad, Ishtiaq Ali, Farhan Alam, Zubair Ahmad, and Wajid Ahmad said that the employees have been issued show-cause notices after they presented their demands.
They accused the management of issuing them show-cause notices after they submitted their demands to their organization.They said that Director General EMA, Manzoor Afridi, issued the notices without hearing the employees’ concerns, sparking widespread anxiety among staff.
Israr Ahmad said the employees have been deprived of fundamental benefits such as time-scale promotions, upgradation, pensions, contributory provident fund, and post-retirement benefits.
He added that employees were required to use their own fuel during duty and lacked essential field equipment, including IT tools.Israr Ahmad emphasized that despite serving for the past 13 years, EMA staff have not been granted the facilities provided to government employees.
He said that several employees including both men and women have lost their lives due to terrorism and accidents while on duty.
Israr Ahmad said their colleagues did not receive financial assistance, death compensation, or pensions, as EMA lacked a formal service structure and they were treated as daily wage workers.He alleged that employees who contributed to saving the government billions of rupees through monitoring efforts in tribal districts and across the province were now being penalized simply for demanding their basic rights. Israr Ahmad claimed that certain individuals aimed to remove existing staff and replace them with preferred candidates, thereby undermining the institution.
The employees demanded that the mobility allowance for field staff be doubled, stating that the current allowance is insufficient to even visit 20 percent of assigned schools. They stressed that there would be no compromise on their demand for financial support to the families of deceased employees. They warned that they would seek legal recourse if the notices were not withdrawn.
