HYDERABAD: Routine business at the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) and the Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HW&SC), particularly signing of cheques and release of funds, salaries and pension, faces hiccups in the absence of administrative heads of the civic bodies.

Newly posted DG of HDA, Asghar Ghangro, and chief executive of erstwhile Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Zahid Khemtio, were not available as they were attending a senior management course in Karachi which started on Nov 1 and would end on Feb 28, 2025.

In their long absence, the Sindh government’s Services, General Adminis­tration and Coordination Department (SGACD) has not yet posted new officers to replace them.

Sindh government had posted an ex-PCS officer as DG of HDA while the corporation’s MD came from Provincial Secretariat Services (PSS). Both the civic bodies already face a host of administrative and financial issues for a long time, which reflect poorly on their working.

To make matters worse, the two bodies had been without their heads for two weeks now as the government was undecided about posting of officers. “We have received Rs175m out of total arrears different provincial government’s departments owed to the corporation towards water and sewerage charges but since HW&SC and HDA remain without their bosses these payments can’t be processed for employees’ salaries and pensions,” said an official.

Water and sewerage charges to be paid by provincial departments concerned stood at Rs7bn for a couple of decades. The provincial government would release Rs350m as payment of the arrears to the corporation while funds for current water and sewerage bills would be made through quarterly releases, said a source in HDA. Out of the Rs350m, an amount of Rs175m had been released lately but this could not be reimbursed among employees.

This fund is to be utilized for payment of salaries and pensions of employees as per chief minister’s directive. “This condition [utilization of arrears’ payment for salaries/pension] was linked with releases of arrears when the CM had approved payment of the arrears for HW&SC,” recalled an officer.

“Two quarters out of Rs976 million for water/sewerage charges were released in last financial year of 2023-24 by finance department but this year one quarter has already passed and the second quarter is passing but no payments out of Rs1000m per annum, which had been mentioned in this year’s budget 2024-25, have been made so far.

The charges increase annually a bit thus the difference between Rs976m and Rs1000m or so of current year,” said a source.

HDA Mazdoor Union (CBA) Hyderabad president Sajid Taqi and general secretary Insaf Ali Lashari complained that HDA and HW&SC had not paid 10 months’ salaries to their employees. Besides, nine month salary of work charge employees, 12 month pension of widows and retired employees had also not been released, they said.

The union leaders led a protest of workers outside local press club on Monday. “Funds are released by the government but serving and retired employees are deprived of their salaries and pensions because both the seats of heads remain vacant in HDA and HW&SC,” said the union leaders.

They said that both the civic bodies were working without responsible officers with the result that cheques of these payments could neither be signed nor issued. “We are at a loss to understand why the Sindh government is not posing an MD in the corporation,” they said.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024