Favoritism affects promotions of firemen

KARACHI: The promotions to firemen in the City Fire Department are granted whenever a post falls vacant; however, many employees see strong factor of favoritism in this regard, depriving many senior firemen of their due right of timely promotion.

Sources told that the Fire Department of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) mostly promoted its blue-eyed boys while the deserving officers are often neglected reportedly on political basis.

KMC CBA President Syed Zulfiqar Shah says the firemen of the city fire department who could not get their promotions include Haq Nawaz, Muhammad Shakoor, Manzoor Hussain, Muhammad Wajid, Muhammad Hassan, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Rafiq Bajwa and Muhammad Naeem. He said Rafiq and Naeem died a year ago.

Concerned employees complain that they had not been promoted for the last 10 years while a departmental promotion committee neglected them when rest of the employees were promoted to next grade in 2004.

Sources told that political influence in department was a major factor, which caused many senior employees to suffer for years, adding that some concerned officials have also adopted discriminatory attitude to employees having no political backing.

When contacted, Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Saleem Ehtisham said that currently there was no vacancy for promotion to officer grade. He maintained that employees would be promoted when such vacancies fall vacant.

CBA President Zulfiqar Shah said that discrimination in promotions had forced aggrieved employees to approach labour court, adding the court had ruled in favour of firemen on 13 August 2009, however, adding the verdict was yet to be implemented.

"The court directed the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) to give promotion to them but they are still waiting for promotion," he added.

He said that the aggrieved employees had submitted the application to Administrator KMC Mohammad Hussain Syed, who had forwarded the case to DPC, but the committee was still resorting to delaying tactics. (PPI)