MUZAFFARABAD: As many as 11 temporary employees of Pakistan Television (PTV), appointed at its Muzaffarabad Centre between 2004 and 2009, have called upon the head of the National Assembly’s special committee on affected employees to get them regularised on “humanitarian grounds” at the earliest in keeping with the length of their service.

The request was made by them to MNA Dr Qadir Khan Mandokhail through an application, a copy of which was also provided by them to Dawn on Sunday.

Four of these employees were appointed at the launch of the Muzaffarabad Centre, commonly referred to as Azad Jammu and Kashmir Television (AJKTV), in 2004, one each in 2006 and 2009 and five, including one female in 2007 either as boom operator, associate and assistant associate computer graphic designer, assistant electrician, makeup artist, store helper, studio helper, sweeper and driver.

“Since 2010, the PTV has regularised hundreds of its [contractual and temporary] employees but ironically the same favour was denied to us on each occasion on the premise that our academic qualifications are not relevant to our respective positions,” they said.

“However, the fact of the matter is that over the past 14 to 19 years, all of us have been diligently carrying out our duties to the entire satisfaction of our high-ups and have also received certificates from the [PTV] Corporation on a number of occasions in appreciation of our performance,” they added.

The employees maintained that most of them were married with children and had now become ineligible [to apply] for any other public-sector job for having surpassed the minimum upper age limit of 40 years for the purpose.

Claiming that recently the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) had also regularised some of its Muzaffarabad-based contractual employees on similar grounds, the PTV Muzaffarabad Centre employees urged Mr Mandokhail “to save the future of their children by getting their services regularised on humanitarian grounds”.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2023