Azad Kashmir: MDA Reinstates Employees; Strike Called-Off
By Altaf Hamid Rao 'Pakistan Times' Kashmir Bureau Chief

MIRPUR (AJK): After the successful parleys with the higher MDA authorities junior employees of Mirpur Development Authority here Monday called off their protest strike.

The MDA employees had went on indefinite strike on Saturday against the termination of the service of two and suspension of three others of their colleagues.

MDA Chairman Sardar Muhammad Rahim Khan told a news conference here on Monday that the three suspended encroachment inspectors have been reinstated. However the decision about termination of the services of two other employees including a junior clerk Shabir Ahmed, involved in forgery and corruption and deliberately missing of the official file, will remain intact, the MDA chief declared.

The MDA Chairman disclosed that he has unearthed hundreds of fake and imaginary files of residential and commercial plots authored by various MDA clerks. He said that operation cleanup has been started to make MDA clean of the corrupt employees without any discrimination. He said that no any corrupt employee could, now, be able to save his skin.

“Rather the employees involved in corruption, malpractices and irregularities will be taken to task without taking care of the threats of strike or other similar means of blackmailing”, he categorically declared and warned that now, no any official would dare to produce fake and forged documents of allotment of plots in any housing sector of MDA.

He warned that quick action will be initiated against the corrupt employees on simple application of the part of public or any other quarter. He invited the masses to lodge the complaint if they have about any mean of corruption on the part of any of the MDA staff member including clerks. He said that the name of the complainant will not be disclosed.

To a question about the idea of the inter-departmental mutual transfers and postintgs of the MDA’s staff to and from other government and autonomous departments, MDA Chairman said that the government has been moved with the requisite recommendations for making some amendments in the concerned MDA rules and regulations.

Sardar Rahim said that it was his earnest priority to streamline all the workings affairs of MDA in the larger public interest by getting it clean of the corrupt elements.

He said that after assessing and studying the gravity of the mounting public complaints about corruption on the part of certain officials of the MDA, representatives of the employees were summoned and warned to get stopped the misdeeds and corruption on the part of certain clerical staff members and their other colleagues.

He said that action against the corrupt employees has been initiated. He said that he do not believed in disturbing the subordinate employees without any reason – since he believed all the subordinates being members of a family. “But black sheep from the institutions will not be spared – rather will be kicked off without taking care any trade union pressure or other similar undue means of strikes and protests”, he declared.●