KARACHI: After dual nationals, the Sindh province government has now launched crackdown on dual jobbers and mostly journalists, doctors and teachers are now in the line of fire with notices being issued.
The Sindh Education Department has started action against ghost teachers who are holding dual jobs in media organisations. A teacher is employed as a doctor and an MQM leader is being paid as a primary school teacher.
The initiative was first started in December 2011 when Sindh Education Department issued a list of 352 journalists working simultaneously as teachers in the Education Department but then nothing happened. Now it has again been taken up.
An announcement issued then had also stated that these journalist-cum-teachers were getting pays from the government but not performing their official duties. Some were also threatening their bosses.
A director of a Sindhi TV channel has been issued a show cause notice and Education Secretary Dr Fazul Pechoho, in a letter, has asked him to clear his position within 14 days. Karachi Press Club also cancelled his membership as he was a government servant.
The Sindh Education Department is also inquiring into the matter of one lecturer of City College Karachi working as a journalist in a Karachi business newspaper.
The Department has suspended the services of Noor Ahmed Soomro, a high school teacher working in Sukkur and simultaneously working as medical officer/doctor in Sindh Health Department’s People’s Primary Health Initiatives. The Director of Education in Sukkur has been asked to lodge an FIR against Soomro in anti-corruption department and terminate his services immediately.
Another officer of Balochistan University of grade 18 also came under the axe as he was also working in the education department in Thatta as a primary school teacher. The Education Department has also issued a show cause notice to a zonal in-charge of MQM and a primary school teacher for not performing his duties.
The Sindh government has also officially requested the media houses, journalists unions and press clubs to take action against these ghost teachers-cum-journalists but neither the Sindh government has taken action nor any journalist body or Press Club has taken action against these teachers working as journalists.
A well-placed source at the Education Department said that inquiries had been started against these ghost teachers and dual job holders.
Karachi Press Club secretary and former Karachi Union of Journalists secretary said that constitution of our apex body, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and KUJ, is clear as we recognise only those as journalist who only depend on journalism and persons who are simultaneously doing jobs in government offices according to our constitution, they are not bona fide journalists.
Internews
