Nurses under probe for seeking Eid bonus
The decision will apply to contract and daily-wage employees as well, and an official notification has been issued in this regard. Furthermore, CDA Board members, who are on deputation appointments, will also be beneficiary of additional basic salary.
Sources reveal that the additional salary payments for all CDA employees and officers on Eidul Azha will cost the authority approximately Rs365.5 million, with Rs235m allocated for employees in Grade 1-16 and Rs30m for officers in Grade 17 and above.
It is reported that CDA has become especially lucrative for officers deputed from various departments, particularly board members. More notably, officers deputed to CDA are also allotted plots in Islamabad's D-Block sector after six months of service, despite CDA employees only being eligible for a plot after completing at least 10 years of service.
Sources highlight that different eligibility standards exist for permanent CDA employees and those on deputation. This disparity makes CDA postings highly desirable among senior officers from other departments.
A senior officer of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) shared an interesting office order, revealing that more than six nurses from Capital Hospital, serving in BS-17 to 19, visited the office of the Member Finance at CDA Headquarters two days ago. The nurses requested that, like employees from BS-1 to 15, they also be granted an additional basic salary as an Eid honorarium.
However, instead of their request being considered, the nurses were accused of violating departmental discipline, and a formal departmental inquiry was ordered against them. This action was taken despite the fact that, prior to the issuance of the inquiry order, the CDA had already officially approved the honorarium for all officers in Grade 17 and above.
Given this approval, even if the disciplinary action had any basis initially, the acceptance of the nurses' request rendered the inquiry unjustifiable and moot.
The CDA Chairman could not be reached for his version despite repeated attempts.
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Express Tribune
20 hours ago
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Can uniform law survive a plural society?
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In India, personal laws for Muslims, Christians, Jews and Parsis exist separately from the Hindu Code which governs personal laws for Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. Naturally, laws governing marriage and inheritance comply with religious edicts of these groups. This has occasionally brought conflict between state and religion – with the Indian Supreme Court's rulings nudging the country toward a UCC. An oft cited ruling is Shah Bano v Muhammad Ahmad Khan where a Muslim woman was given the right to marital support against Islamic custom. Essentially this allowed the state to interject in the personal matters of this Muslim couple to provide them protection, although later a law was passed to circumvent it – this was a cause for anxiety for minorities and aggravation for the majority who felt discriminated against for their own customs. 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But petitions have already been filed challenging the law's constitutionality, and activists fear it could open the door to surveillance and moral policing. Several BJP-led states — including Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh — intend to follow suit. Gujarat formed a high-level committee to draft its own version of a UCC, with assurances that the drafting process would include public consultation. Khalid Anwar, a member of the legislative council and the BJP-ally Janata Dal party, spoke to the media, stating that 'We will never allow the UCC to be implemented in Bihar.' At the same time, opposition-ruled states like Kerala and West Bengal have rejected the UCC on the grounds that it would infringe on religious freedom and fail to accommodate local cultural diversity. In 2023, Kerala's legislative assembly passed a resolution opposing the proposed UCC, criticising the lack of public consultation. At the heart of the UCC debate is a question of uniformity versus pluralism. 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PM urges nation to take guidance from Imam Hussain (RA)
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