The government of Balochistan has established some prestigious educational institutions known as BRCs in Loralai, Khuzdar, Turbat, Zhob and Uthal with the objectives to impart quality education to the youngsters of this relatively impoverished province. It was Japan’s imported brain child of late Balochistan military Governor General (R) Rahimuddin Khan. The teaching staff for these institutions is selected in B-17 and above at the national level while the remaining employees of B-16 and below are appointed on the basis of their local certificates or domiciles. Since their inception, the provincial government has been providing regular budgets to all these educational institutions even though the Act passed by the Balochistan Assembly in 2005 contains the word ‘Grant-in-Aid’. The governing body of these academics approved an attractive allowance of 75% for the employees working in these colleges in order to bring competent, qualified and dedicated people from across the country. Besides, the staff employed here are not only teaching the students but they are also monitoring the hostels of the students during the post academic hours in order to ensure the conduct of preps and address other academic or house related issues, if any, facing the boarders.
In July 2015, the federal government announced to freeze all special allowances for the employees working in different departments. Following the budgetary announcement, the finance department of
Balochistan also capped the attractive allowance of the BRCs’ employees from the then fiscal year. Since then they are deprived of this allowance despite their hectic efforts to convince the concerned authorities about its specific nature.
The education department colleges, higher and technical education moved a summary in favour of the employees to the chief minister via the finance department for the approval but the latter raised objection on it saying that the allowance would be admissible provided the institutions were brought within the pool of grant-in-aid instead of the regular budget.
It may be mentioned here that grant-in-aid is no problem for the employees but how can a system running on a regular budget
since 1989 be abruptly changed overnight? Dozens of employees have retired from the service receiving monthly pensions from the department. In addition to this, the majority of the employees have joined this service through proper channels leaving lucrative posts and pensionable jobs behind.
In the current galloping inflation, the employees of these residential colleges can hardly afford the exorbitant domestic expenses. Without the
frozen allowance, they live from paycheck to pay check. They need to be facilitated through other financial sources for their laborious work and discharge of the extra hostel duties if defreezing or restoration of the proposed allowance is not a piece of cake for the government.