Case

Editors Introduction

127

The Employee Strike at

University of Health
Sciences, LahorePunjab
Zafar I. Qureshi
Hassan Mahmood

Asian Journal of Management Cases

9(2) 127140
2012 Lahore University of
Management Sciences
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/0972820112454241
http://ajc.sagepub.com

Abstract
This case traces the series of events that led to the crippling employee strike faced by the University of
Health Sciences in 20092010. Instigated by a somewhat ambiguously worded directive from the Punjab
Government (under whose aegis the UHS functions) regarding the regularization of contract employees, the misunderstanding snowballed into a full-fledged revolt by the majority of the UHS contractual
staff against the university management. This led to the university finally having to relieve 65 per cent
of its work force from employment.
This case narrates in detail how these events came to pass. It also presents a brief overview of the
UHS organizational structure; its decision-making dynamics; and the institutional context in which it
functions. A brief outline of the university VCs leadership style is also presented.
Keywords
Contract employees, strike, violence, leadership style, litigation, negotiation.

Introduction
In July 2010, Dr Mubbashir, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of University of Health Sciences, Lahore (UHS),
was in his office pondering over the events of recent months. The functioning of the university had been
brought to a halt by a strike of the non-managerial staff forcing the administration to relieve 65 per cent
of its workforce from employment. The chain of events preceding this decision not only immensely
affected the functioning of the university, it also marred the reputation of an institution which had up till
the incident prided itself on its discipline and performance excellence.
The university administration had been shaken and many of them were left wondering what they
could have done differently to avoid this turn of events. As Dr Mubbashir looked out of the window at a

This case was written by Research Associate, Hassan Mahmood (hassan.mahmood@lums.edu.pk) under the
supervision of Professor Zafar Iqbal Qureshi (zafar@lums.edu.pk) at the Lahore University of Management
Sciences to serve as basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an
administrative situation. This material may not be quoted, photocopied or reproduced in any form without the
prior written consent of the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

group of office clerks talking over their lunch, the same question was crossing his mind. He was deeply
troubled by the loss of so many jobs and was wondering what he could have done differently to prevent
events from coming to such a tragic culmination. Moreover, he was also trying to figure out the measures
he could take to avoid such events from occurring again in the future.

The University
The University of Health Sciences was established on 28 September 2002 through the promulgation
of the UHS Ordinance, to serve as a governing and coordinating body for the medical colleges and health
sciences related institutions in Punjab. In 2010, it had eighty colleges and institutions affiliated with it
and a registered student body of about 28,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students.
The stated aim for establishing the university, as outlined in its mission statement, was to bring about
a qualitative and quantitative revolution in medical education and research. The university aimed to
accomplish this mission by improving the quality of instruction of basic medical sciences in its affiliated
institutions; revitalizing the neglected fields of nursing and other allied sciences; pioneering courses in
biomedical engineering, genetics and behavioural studies; and fostering significant on-campus and offcampus research activities.
To date the university had successfully implemented several initiatives including the revamping of the
medical and health sciences curricula in its affiliated institutions; the development of a high fidelity,
high security and transparent examination system; the establishment of a teacher development programme for medical faculty; the initiation of undergraduate and graduate programme in Nursing and
Allied Sciences; and the establishment of several state-of-the-art, research focused medical departments
and labs in disciplines ranging from physiology and cell biology to human genetics and biotechnology.
The university had also formed academic linkages with several reputed international universities
and won recognition for its degrees from several national and international bodies including the
Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), General Medical
Council, UK, General Dental Council, UK and the World Health Organization (WHO). At present,
extensive research in more than 180 different areas including asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis, typhoid,
infertility, environmental pollution, etc. was being undertaken on-campus. This new research focus
encouraged professors to publish more than fifty research papers in high impact international journals in
the few years since the universitys inception.
The university administration felt that one of the reasons for UHS success was its no clerk culture1,
which had been instituted on the express instructions of the universitys Board of Governors (BoG). The
BoG had felt that the ambitious aims that UHS had set itself were more likely to be met if competent and
capable personnel were hired to run the administrative affairs and support system of the university. It was
with this goal in mind that the university management offered competitive and market-driven (at least
compared to other public sector organizations) contract based employment to its entire administrative
staff (see Figure 1 for UHS organizational chart).
As it turned out, it was these very professionals who ended up rebelling against the university
contract employment policy and plunging the organization into the biggest crisis it had faced in its
short life.
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The Employee Strike at University of Health Sciences, LahorePunjab

Board of
Governors

Vice
Chancellor

University
Syndicate

Medical
Education

Administration
&
Management

Controller of
Examination

Registrar

Director
Administration
& Security

Figure 1. University Administrative Chart

Source: UHS Documents.

The Employee Strike

On 14 October 2009, the Services and General Administrative Department (S&GAD) of the Government
of Punjab (GoP) issued a notification, on the Chief Ministers directive, that ordered all autonomous/
semi-autonomous bodies and special institutions in the Punjab to regularize the services of contract
appointees in Basic Scales 1 to 15 (BS 115) in line with the S&GAD Notification (see Annexure 1).
This notification explicitly stated that this order only covered employees who had been hired under the
Contract Appointment Policy issued by the S&GAD in 2004 and was limited to the various departments
of the Punjab Government. It did not, however, cover the contract employees working against posts
in various projects/programs/PMUs/PMOs and other time bound (one-time) development activities.
The notification created a degree of excitement amongst the UHS staff and several of them began to
hope that their contract employment would also be regularized. After all, they reasoned, the UHS was an
affiliated autonomous body of the Punjab Government and so the order should apply to it too. As days
passed and no affirmation or firm denial of the applicability of the notification to UHS contract employees was issued by the UHS administration, the excitement amongst the employees began to translate into
disappointment.
On 24 October 2009, ten days after the issuance of the GoP Notification, several employees of UHS
gathered outside the campus and observed a strike against the administration.
The administration, taking note of this situation, decided to call a meeting of a subcommittee of
The Board of Governors (BoG) to decide how best to tackle this issue. This meeting took place on
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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

29 October 2009. The assembled board members were informed that no separate copy of the GOP
Notification under question had been sent to UHS, which the administration had taken to mean that the
notification did not apply to them.
The day after the meeting (i.e. 30 October 2009) the VC and senior officers of the university met the
protesting employees and persuaded them to resume their duties, promising that the university would
consider their demand according to the applicability of the notification to the employees of UHS.
On 31 October 2009, the day after the meeting between the university administration and the striking
employees, The National Seminar of the Medical Research Society of Pakistan was held at UHS. Several
of the employees decided to leverage this occasion to air their grievances publicly. They decided to
stage a protest and insisted that their demands be presented to the UHS Board of Governors. The
administration, in an attempt at avoiding any embarrassment in front of the visiting local and foreign
delegates, seemingly acceded to the demands of the protestors. As a result, the protests were called off
for the day.
Two days later (on 2 November 2009) Dr Mubbashir, the VC of UHS, wrote a letter to the Finance
Department of the Government of Punjab, which highlighted the confusion that the 14 October regularization notification had caused within UHS (see Annexure 2). In this letter the VC inquired about the
financial repercussions of regularizing the contract employees at UHS. More particularly, he wanted to
know whether these regularized employees would be eligible to receive the special pay packages (which
included fairly generous house rent and special cash allowances) that were given to them as contract
employees of the university.
Also, he wanted to know whether Section 7 of the original notification, which stated that all contract
employees had an option either to hold on to their contract package or to opt for permanent employment
and standard Government of Punjab remuneration packages would also be applicable to the UHS
employees. (Section 7 of the notification also stated that those employees who chose to continue with
their contract packages would not be given any extension in their contracts once the original contract
expired.)
The UHS administration decided to internally deliberate on the implications of Section 7 for the UHS
employees. However, around 7 November 2009, reports of a certain slow down in the performance of
duties by the lower staff began to come to the attention of the senior administration. However, as no clear
signal from the BoG was forthcoming at this point regarding the course of action that should be adopted
by the administration, nor had the government clarified the regularization notices implications for UHS,
the university administration decided to wait for these issues to clear up before taking any decisive action
against the suspected employee subordination.
On 17 December 2009, a letter was circulated by the striking employees in the university proclaiming
the establishment of a workers union by the name of All Pakistan Clerical Association (APCA). This action
was aimed at not only organizing the UHS striking employees more effectively, but also to acquire support
of other worker unions for the UHS strike effort. This letter, which was dated 25 October 2009, also contained the names of the office bearers of the union. On the same day the APCA president, Mr Naveed,
announced that he had obtained a stay order from the Lahore High Court which prevented the UHS administration from taking any adverse action against him or any other officer bearer of the newly formed union.
On 21 and 22 December 2009, two more members of the 10-member working committee of the APCA
made it known that they had been awarded similar stay orders by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Amid this turmoil, Dr Mubbashir, the VC of UHS wrote to the Secretary Health of the GoP and the
Regulations Section of the S&GAD on 21 December 2009, requesting a clarification whether the
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employment regularization notice issued by the S&GAD on 14 October 2009 applied to UHS, which
was described as a body corporate in the UHS ordinance 2002. An early response was requested since
a meeting of the BoG was scheduled for 2 February 2010 and the matter would come up for discussion
in that meeting.
In the meanwhile, emboldened by the judicial support they had obtained, the APCA began to act more
aggressively. On 22 December 2009, seven individuals, including Mr Naveed, the president of the
APCA, and four more members of his working committee entered the office of the Controller of
Examinations and allegedly manhandled him and used foul language. The administration, sticking to its
placatory tact decided, instead of initiating a formal disciplinary inquiry into the incident, to appoint a
Grievance and Redressal Committee, which would allow the striking employees an opportunity to air
their grievances. This conciliatory attempt was however completely ignored by the striking group. The
administration not wanting to anger the employees further decided to let the incident pass and no disciplinary action of any kind was taken against the alleged perpetrators.
On 20 January 2010, a sub-committee of the BoG met the representatives of the employees and
assured them that their demands would be presented to the BoG. The employees, now under the umbrella
of the APCA, again ignored this gesture of the administration.
Three days later, on 23 January 2010, an unauthorized oath taking ceremony, attended by more than
400 outsiders, was held by the APCA in the UHS auditorium. This was followed on the same day by the
posting of protest banners, deemed abusive by the UHS administration, at several places on campus. All
APCAlinked employees abandoned their work completely from this day onwards and the relationship
between the administration and the striking employees began to deteriorate fast.
On 24 January 2010, certain APCA linked individuals forcefully occupied the office of the Centre for
Innovation and Learning (CILT) and replaced its board by one which proclaimed the space to be the new
office of the APCA, UHS. On the same day, a senior faculty member was threatened and prevented from
entering his office.
The next day (25 January 2010) the formation of a twelve-member Action Committee of the APCA
was announced through a circular and the following day (26 January 2010), a general strike was observed
by the employees which paralyzed the working of the UHS and affected a Higher Education Commission
(HEC) organized workshop that was being held on campus.
On 2 February 2010, just four days before the scheduled BoG meeting, the VC not having received a
reply from either the Secretary Health or the S&GAD wrote to them again, pleading that a clarification
be made available before the meeting (see Annexure 3).
Two days later, on 4 February 2010, the S&GAD dropped a bombshell; the service regularization
notice which had caused all the commotion was not even applicable to the UHS employees, as none of
them had been hired under the Contract Employment Policy 2004 (see Annexure 4). They thus were still
legally bound by all the strictures of the original contract they had signed when joining UHS. This news
was the main talking point in the BoG meeting which took place two days later (6 February 2010).
However, the strike by now seemed to have gained so much momentum that the news that the original
notification did not apply to them did not deter the striking employees (see Figures 2 to 5). On 3 March
2010, the APCA issued a formal schedule of protest. Six days later a congregation of lower staff gathered
in front of the VCs office and banged on his door.
The VC, by now running out of patience, decided to take some disciplinary action and called the
APCA president and one of his deputies in front of the disciplinary committee asking them to explain
their behaviour. Instead of explaining their behaviour, they reportedly misbehaved during the hearing.
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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

Figure 2. UHS Employees Protesting outside the University

Source: UHS Documents.

Figure 3. UHS Employees Protesting on the Mall Road, Lahore

Source: UHS Documents.

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133

Figure 4. UHS Employees Protesting at Faisal Chowk, Lahore

Source: UHS Documents.

Figure 5. The Children of UHS Employees Protesting with their

ParentsTwo of the Banners Read: Uncle, My Father has Brought
Me here to Sell Me and Chief Minister, I Cannot Go to School
Source: UHS Documents.

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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

Meanwhile, the protests continued with the protestors growing more and more agitated. By 17 March
2010, the University administration had grown so concerned that police help was sought to protect the
life and property of the people at UHS. Shortly thereafter (on 20 March 2010) a meeting of the
BoG was held and it was decided that action be taken (disciplinary or otherwise) in line with the statutes
of the UHS Ordinance to deal with the situation which had grown out of hand. A day earlier (on
19 March 2010) a meeting chaired by the Secretary Health had repeated the S&GADs verdict that the
14 October 2010 regularization notice did not apply to UHS.
The committee constituted by the BoG to deal with the strike, decided at first to try a reconciliatory
approach. Accordingly, it announced that all striking employees would be granted an extension in their
contracts if they resumed their duties. Contract letters with extended employment dates were also sent.
This move, however, only served to agitate the employees further, a number of whom occupied the
Tabulation Section of the computer department and prevented the administration from accessing and
announcing the results for the MBBS/BDS supplementary examinations.
On 25 March 2010, the strike finally reached its ugliest turn. Violent protests were held inside the
university and verbal abuses were hurled at senior officers and faculty members, some of whom were
made hostages and prevented from leaving their offices. The water supply to the university was also cut
off and a university generator was damaged. All university functions were effectively paralyzed.
Ultimately, the police had to be called in to rescue the faculty and disperse the protestors. The senior law
and order officers in the province were also promptly made aware of this turn of events.
The agitation resumed again the next day and faculty and staff were prevented from entering the university. Threats were also made that the university would be burned down if the demands of the protestors were not met. A few days later, a junior registration officer working at the university was threatened
that his legs would be broken if he did not join the strike.
The administration however still held out some hopes of reconciliation and published an ad in the
paper extending the deadline for signing the new contracts by three days (to 3 April 2010). By 5 April
2010, having received an almost negligible response to its conciliatory policies, the administration
finally decided to shift tact and announced that disciplinary action would be instigated against absentee
employees. A hearing was scheduled for 14 April 2010, which again went largely unattended, as employees continued to protest outside the university. Meanwhile, the university also received a letter from the
Chief Ministers secretariat which confirmed that the earlier regularization notice was not applicable to
UHS and it was free to deal with its employees according to its own corporate rules.
On 28 April 2010, a subcommittee of the BoG finally directed the administration to finalize and
execute its disciplinary measures as there was no point left in waiting anymore. Therefore, on 30 April
2010, the UHS dispatched the outstanding salary payments of the protesting employees and cancelled
their contracts.

Looking Forward
As Dr Mubbashir ruminated over this series of events, he tried to puzzle out what he could have done
differently to prevent matters from reaching the culmination that they ultimately had. Perhaps it would
have helped if clearer and more decisive communication with the employees had been established from
the moment the 14 October Regularization Notification had been issued.
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135

But then again it would have been tough to act decisively when so many variables had been unknown
at the time, like for example, whether or not the notification even applied to UHS. And, even if timely
clarifications from the relevant government departments had been received, could the administration
have acted on such a major issue without the approval of the BoG?
Or perhaps the main problem lay with the way the administration had let so many indiscretions on
part of the employees go unpunished. Perhaps, it would have been better to take a tougher stance at the
start of the agitation.
Dr Mubbashir even thought about his own paternalistic leadership style and wondered whether it had
contributed in any way to the crisis. From his perspective, he felt that the striking employees had betrayed
the UHS family by taking their problems to the publicthereby hurting the image of the institution. Dr
Mubbashir thought that he as a father figure had done all that was in his power to resolve the matter
amicably and keep the UHS family together and happy, but felt that the striking employees had forced
his hand when they had started to undermine the universitys interests at large. Still he was troubled by
the huge human and social cost that the strike had exacted and wondered whether he had done everything
in his power to minimize it.
These and several similar questions were whirling around in Dr Mubbashirs mind as he pondered
over how similar events could be tackled more effectively in the future.
Annexure 1. The 14 October Regularization of Contract Employees Notice from the S&GAD Department
GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB
SERVICES AND GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT (REGULATIONS WING)
Dated Lahore: 14th October, 2009
NOTIFICATION
No. NO.DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/CONTRACT (MF). The Chief Minister of the Punjab has been pleased to direct all
Autonomous/Semi-Autonomous Bodies, Special Institutions in the Punjab shall make appointments on regular basis
of the contract appointees in BS-1 to 15 in line with the Service & General Administration Department notification
No. DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/Contract (MF) date 14.10.2009 (copy enclosed).
BY THE ORDER OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, PUNJAB
MUHAMMAD ILYAS
SECRETARY (REGULATIONS), S&GAD
Dated Lahore: 14th October, 2009
No. NO.DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/CONTRACT (MF)
A copy is forwarded for information and necessary action to:
1. The Principal Secretary to Governor of the Punjab.
2. The Secretary to Chief Minister, Punjab.
3. The Senior Member, Board of Revenue, Punjab.
4. Chairman Planning & Development Board Punjab.
5. The Chairman, Chief Ministers Inception Team, Punjab Lahore.
6. All Administrative Secretaries to Government of Punjab.
7. The Secretary Ombudsman Punjab 2- Bank Road Lahore.
8. The Registrar, Lahore High Court, Lahore.
(Annexure 1 continued)

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(Annexure 1 continued)
9. The Registrar Punjab Service Tribunal.
10. The Inspector General of Police, Punjab/Provincial Police Officer.
11. The Accountant General, Punjab, Lahore.
12. All Head of Attached Departments in the Punjab.
13. All Commissioners in the Punjab.
14. All District Coordination Officers.
15. All Heads of Autonomous Bodies in the Punjab.
16. The Secretary, Provincial Assembly Punjab.
17. The Secretary, Punjab Public Service Commission, Lahore.
18. All District Accounts Officers in the Punjab.
19. PS to Chief Secretary, Punjab, Lahore.
20. PSO to Additional Chief Secretary, Punjab, Lahore.
21. PSs to Secretary (Services), Secretary (Regulations), Secretary (I&C) S&GA Department.
22. All Additional Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Section Officers in the S&GAD.
23. The Superintendent, Government Printing Press, Punjab, Lahore. He is requested to publish this notification
in the official gazette and provide 50 copies to this Department.
AFZAL NASIR KHAN
DEPUTY SECRETARY (O&M),
S&GAD
GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB
SERVICES AND GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT (REGULATIONS WINGS)
Dated: Lahore 11th October, 2009
No. NO.DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/CONTRACT (MF).
1. In exercise of the powers conferred upon him by rule 23 of the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointment and
Conditions Services) Rules, 1974, the Chief Minister, Punjab is pleased to order appointments, on regular
basis, in relaxation of the relevant services rules, of the employees in BS-1 to 15, Recruited on contract basis.
Order the provisions of the Contract Appointment Policy issued by the S&GAD in 2004 against the posts
presently held by them in various Government Departments of the Punjab, with immediate effect. However,
the contract employees working against the posts in various projects/ programs /PMUs/PMOs and other time
bound (one time) development activities shall not be covered by this notification.
2. For the purpose of this notification, the Chief Minister, Punjab has further been pleased to withdraw the
posts of BS-11 to 15 presently held by contract employees, as mentioned in the rule 16 of the Punjab Civil
Servant (Appointment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974 from the purview of the Punjab Public Service
Commission in terms of rule 5 of the Punjab Public Service Commission (Functions) Rules 1978.
3. These appointments will however be subject to fulfillment of requirements of rule 18, 19, 20, 21 and 21-A of
the Punjab Civil Servants (Appointments and Conditions of Service) rules, 1974.
4. The Contract appointees on their regular appointments shall remain on probation in terms of Section 5 of the
Punjab Civil Servant act 1974, and rule 7of the Punjab Civil Servant (Appointments and Conditions of Service)
Rules, 1974.
5. The Service period of contract employees shall not be counted for any purpose (pension, gratuity, leave, etc.)
on their appointment under the Punjab Civil Servant Act, 1974 and the rules framed there under. The salary
component of such employees shall be accordance with the pay scales plus the usual allowances prescribed for
the posts against which they are being appointed. They will, however not be entitled to the payment of 30%
social security benefits in lieu of pension or any other pay package being drawn by them.

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6. However, pay of the contract employees being appointed in the basic pay scales shall be fixed at the initial
of the respective pay scales and increment (s) already earned during the contract appointment period shall
be converted into Personal Allowance. The pay of those appointed on the basis of pay package will be fixed
in consultation with the Finance Department. The decision of the Finance Department in this behalf shall be
final. The Finance Department shall constitute an Anomalies Committee to resolve the issue arising out of
appointments of contract employees on regular basis.
7. The Contract employees who do not intend to be appointed on regular basis should furnish their option
to this effect in writing within 30 days from date of issuance of their appointment letters by the respective
appointing authorities. They may continue with their present employment as per terms and conditions of their
contract. However, No extension in their contract period shall be allowed. Those who intend to be appointed
on regular basis need not apply. The option once exercised shall be final.
BY THE ORDER OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, PUNJAB
MUHAMMAD ILYAS
SECRETARY (REGULATIONS), S&GAD
Dated Lahore: 14th October, 2009
No. NO.DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/CONTRACT (MF)
A copy is forwarded for information and necessary action to: 1. The Principal Secretary to Governor of the Punjab.
2. The Secretary to Chief Minister, Punjab.
3. The Senior Member, Board of Revenue, Punjab.
4. Chairman Planning & Development Board, Punjab.
5. The Chairman, Chief Ministers Inspection Team, Punjab Lahore.
6. All Administrative Secretaries to Government of Punjab.
7. The Secretary Ombudsman Punjab 2- Bank Road, Lahore.
8. The Registrar, Lahore High Court, Lahore.
9. The Registrar Punjab Service Tribunal.
10. The Inspector General of Police, Punjab/Provincial Police Officer.
11. The Accountant General, Punjab, Lahore.
12. All Head of Attached Departments in the Punjab.
13. All Commissioners in the Punjab.
14. All District Coordination Officers.
15. All Heads of Autonomous Bodies in the Punjab.
16. The Secretary, Provincial Assembly Punjab.
17. The Secretary, Punjab Public Service Commission, Lahore.
18. All District Accounts Officers in the Punjab.
19. PS to Chief Secretary, Punjab, Lahore.
20. PSO to Additional Chief Secretary, Punjab, Lahore.
21. PSs to Secretary (Services), Secretary (Regulations), Secretary (I&C) S&GA Department.
22. All Additional Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Section Officers in the S&GAD.
23. The Superintendent, Government Printing Press, Punjab, Lahore. He is requested to publish this notification
in the official gazette and provide 50 copies to this Department.
AFZAL NASIR KHAN
DEPUTY SECRETARY (O&M),
S&GAD
Source: UHS Documents.

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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

Annexure 2. Dr Mubbashirs Letter to the Secretary Finance dated 2 November 2009

No. UHS/VC-09/218.
Dated: November 2, 2009.
Mr. Tariq Mahmood Pasha,
Secretary FINANCE,
Government of the Punjab,
Civil Secretariat,
Lahore.
Dear Secretary Sahib,
I am writing to you with reference to Sections 5 and 6 of the Notification No. DS (O&M) 5-3/2004/CONTRACT
(MF), dated 14th October 2009, which clearly states that those employees of Grad-1 to 15 who are regularized
will not be entitled to the payment of 30% social security benefits or any other pay package drawn by them.
UHS Grade 1-15 employees get a special pay package and special House Rent allowance, the details of which are
attached at Annex.
Will contract employees who are to be employed on regular basis have an option, as per Section 7 of the orders
mentioned above? I would be grateful if a clarification to this effect is issued by your office urgently.
With profound regards,
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Malik Hussain Mubbashar
Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz
Vice Chancellor/Chief Executive
University of Health Sciences
Encl: As above

Basic Scale
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Special Additional Package to UHS Employees

Special Allowance
HRA
3,000
1,805
3,200
1,805
3,500
2,645
4,000
2,645
4,200
2,645
4,200
2,645
4,200
4,025
4,500
4,025
5,000
4,025
5,500
4,025
6,000
5,885
6,500
5,885
7,000
5,885
7,000
7,440
7,500
7,440

HRA given by the

Punjab Government
(45% of the initial pay)
1337
1366
1413
1458
1503
1544
1589
1649
1719
1780
1852
1960
2090
2214
2349

Source: UHS Documents.

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The Employee Strike at University of Health Sciences, LahorePunjab

Annexure 3. Dr Mubbashirs Letter to the Regulations Department (Civil Secretariat Punjab) dated, 2 February 2010
Confidential
No. UHS/VC-10/15.
Dated: February 2, 2010.
Mr. Muhammad Ilyas Ch.,
Secretary to Government of the Punjab,
Regulations Department,
Civil Secretariat Punjab,
Lahore.
Dear Secretary Sahib,
Further to my earlier letter No. UHS/VC-09/255, dated December 21, 2009 addressed to Secretary Health Punjab
and advance copy to your department, requesting for an opinion/clarification on a point whether the University of
Health Sciences, which has been described as Body Corporate in the UHS Ordinance 2002, the notification
dated 14th October 2009 issued by S&GAD (Regulation Wing) is applicable also to our contract employees or not?
Copy each of the Ordinance 2002 and Service Statutes of UHS is enclosed for your perusal.
I shall be grateful, if the matter is expedited as the case of regularization of contract employees in BS-1 to BS-15 is
to be considered in the forthcoming meeting of board of Governors scheduled on 6.2.2010.
With kindest regards,
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Malik Hussain Mubbashar
Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz
Vice Chancellor/Chief Executive
University of Health Sciences
Encl: As above
Source: UHS Documents.

Annexure 4. Reply from the S&GAD Department (Regulation Wing), dated 4 February 2010
CONFIDENTIAL 



To

NO.DS (O&M) 6-2/10/CONTRACT/UHS

GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB
SERVICES & GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT (REGULATION WING)
Dated Lahore the 4th February, 2010

The Vice Chancellor

University of Health Sciences,
Lahore.

SUBJECT: APPOINTMENT OF CONTRACT EMPLOYEES ON REGULAR BASIS

Please refer to your letter No. UHS/VC-10/15, dated 02.02.2010 on the subject noted above.
2. The matter has been examined by the Regulation Wing S&GAD. It has been observed that terms and conditions
of the employees are to be determined by University as provided under section 4(xiii) of the University of
Health Sciences Lahore Ordinance, 2002. Which reads as under:
(Annexure 4 continued)

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Zafar I. Qureshi and Hassan Mahmood

(Annexure 4 continued)

Create posts in connection with teaching, research publication, extension,

training and administration of its affairs and for any other related purposes
and appoint persons thereto on such terms and conditions as it may
determine

3. In case appointments were made under the provisions of rules/regulations/statutes/laws of the University
and not as per Contract Appointment Policy 2004, the University may proceed in accordance with its own
ordinance/rules/regulations/statutes and exercise its discretion provided therein.
(RUKHSANA NADEEM BHUTTA)
Additional Secretary (Regulations)
S&GAD
Source: UHS Documents.

Note
1. The term clerk culture was popularly used in Pakistani office circles to refer to the propensity of office workers
to do as little work as possible while demanding maximum benefits. This culture was usually associated with less
educated, low paid clerical staff.

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