Tag: csc

CSC releases compliance audit report of Islamic Ministry

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has published the compliance audit report of the Islamic Ministry, the first report of its kind that has been completed by the independent commission.

The compliance audit report found that staff at the Islamic Ministry had been referred to with disparaging terms that could be considered as a form of injury or harm under the civil service regulation while some senior officials used inappropriate language against civil servants.

The report also noted the absence of clear procedures to help civil servants understand their duties at the ministry. Moreover, the report observed that there was no procedure to follow for reporting a civil servant if he or she had violated a law or regulation.

“Security officers and laborers have sometimes been used for employees’ personal work,” the report stated. “Employees have been misusing the internet as internet usage has not been regulated.”

Administrative policy of the ministry meanwhile did not adhere to civil service regulations, the report noted.

“All the required information that has to be in the salary slip is not included in the slip that staff receive,” the report read. “Staff have not been informed about overtime work procedure and employees working overtime have been paid the same amount that they are paid when they work on official days.”

The compliance report also found that allowances had been given to some employees without prior authorisation from the CSC.

“Staff have been shifted from one section to another not in accordance to the CSC regulations, while some staff have started work without signing the employment agreement,” it read. “Staff are not provided with all the amenities that civil servants should receive.”

It also noted that staff had been assigned work continuously for eight days without a break of 24 hours, and male employees were not attired in accordance with the civil service dress code.

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Government owes us Rf443 million: Civil Service Commission

The government owes Rf443 million (US$34 million) in unpaid salaries and allowances to civil servants following yesterday’s High Court upholding of a Civil Court ruling that salaries be restored to pre-cut levels and the balance repaid.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) took the Finance Ministry to court last year after it refused to restore the salaries in January 2010 following three months of austerity measures.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pressured the government to reduced its civil service spend to reduce its deficit. The government has not said whether it plans to appeal.

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High Court upholds Civil Court’s ruling in favor of CSC regarding salary issue

The High Court has today ruled that Finance Ministry does not have the legal authority to overturn the salaries and allowances of civil servants against the will of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

In April last year the Civil Court ruled in favor of the Civil Service Commission in a case against the Ministry of Finance regarding civil servants’ salary cuts. The CSC successfully contended that the Finance Ministry did not have the legal authority to make amendments to civil servant salaries.

Delivering the verdict at the time, Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujoon said that the Finance Ministry was not authorised to order offices to prepare salary sheets according to its revised (lower) salaries, and also ruled that the Ministry could not issue an order narrowing the powers of the commission to decide the civil servants’ salaries under articles 6, 18(a) and 43 of the Civil Service Act.

The salaries of the Civil Servants were reduced in October 2009 for three months, after an agreement between the Finance Ministry and CSC, part of austerity measures favoured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

After the three months duration was over, the Finance Ministry extended the duration for another three months without the consent of the CSC.

In January 2010, the CSC ordered permanent secretaries to submit the sheets with salaries at the levels prior to the government’s reductions in October, while the Finance Ministry threatened legal action against any civil servants who filled in salary sheets according to the restored amount.

Civil servants held protests in Male’ over the salary reduction, with the support of the opposition, after the government refused to restore the salaries to pre-cut levels citing the poor economic condition of the country.

The situation became especially heated that Feburary after the Finance Ministry filed a case against the CSC with police, alleging the commission was attempting to “to sow discord between the government and public”, and “bring the government to a halt.”

The Finance Ministry further claimed that certain members of the CSC were using the issue as a cover to attain “a hidden political agenda.”

“The CSC is making it difficult for the government to implement the necessary economic policies [and are therefore] indirectly trying to damage the economy,” the Ministry said in a statement, at the time.

“[The CSC’s actions] will result in an increased budget deficit, make it difficult to maintain the value of the rufiyaa against the dollar and will damage the Maldivian economy, affecting each and every citizen of this country.”

After the matter descended into the court system, the government appear to accept that it was unlikely to shake the CSC’s hold on the salary issue, as demanded by the IMF, and instead embarked on an ambitious program of corporatisation whereby entire departments were transformed into 100 percent government-owned corporate entities, outside the jurisdiction of the CSC.

More recently, cabinet launched a program to encourage civil servants to leave the government and enter the private sector or further their education, a move welcomed by the CSC.

Under the scheme, civil servants and government employees were eligible for one of four retirement incentive packages: no assistance, a one time payment of Rf 150,000 (US$11,700), a payment of Rf 150,000 and priority in the small and medium enterprises loan scheme (for those 18-50 years of age), or a lump sum of Rf 200,000 (US$15,600) and priority in government training and scholarship programmes (for those 18-40 years of age).

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Tribunal orders CSC to reinstate job of DPRS Superintendent Husham

The Employment Tribunal has today ordered the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to reinstate Mohamed Husham to his job at the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) after the tribunal determined that he was terminated from his post without grounds as specified in the Employment Act.

Husham was a Superintendent at the DPRS and the head of Maafushi Prison.

According to the tribunal he was terminated on September 7 last year. Haveeru  reported that during the hearings Husham claimed that he was terminated for refusing to obey “unlawful” orders.  He claimed that he was transferred from Maafushi Jail to an office in Male’ where he was not even provided with a chair for one and a half years.

The CSC was ordered to consider Husham as an employee of the CSC and to pay his full salary and allowances from September 7 until his reinstatement. The order also obliges the CSC to pay Husham within 15 days and to then inform the tribunal.

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Petition against Education Ministry permanent secretary unprofessional, says CSC

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has questioned the professionalism of civil servants who circulated a petition against the Education Ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Aamal Ali, around the media.

The petition, signed by 44 civil servants, includes a ream of complaints against Aamal including allegations that she was misusing her power and taking actions against the Constitution.

The CSC said that the Civil Servant’s Act required civil servants to work according to the Act, follow the code of conduct and work without prejudice: “It is necessary to follow professional manners in a working environment,” said the Commission.

It called on civil servants to report cases regarding permanent secretaries or other civil servants in a professional manner, as required by law.

“Civil servants have the right to file complaints against the permanent secretary if they were unsatisfied by any decision they make, according to the Civil Servant’s Act,” said CSC. ”If any such case was presented to the commission, the commission will always proceed the case and look in to the matter and take necessary measurements.”

Minivan News attempted to contact Dr Amaal Ali, however she was in a meeting and unavailable for a comment at time of press.

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Civil servants opt to strike

The Maldives Civil Servants Association (MCSA) has said that a large numbers of its members have requested to take strike action over reduced public sector salaries.

The government had pledged to reduce the salaries of civil servants along with the amount it pays independent commissions as part of attempts to slash costs during an era economic uncertainty.

By last year, civil servants demanded to have their salaries restored by 2011 and also demanded to add the restored salaries to this year’s budget.

President Mohamed Nasheed had said that the civil cuts were possibly to have been revoked by the end of last year.

However, it is the salaries of independent commissions that have been restored, alongside proposed hikes in the wages and privileges afforded to MPs, leading to protests across Male’ during the last few days from various groups.

”The majority of the civil servants want to be on strike, they are unhappy about the reduced salaries,” said Abdulla Mohamed, Spokesperson of the MCSA. ”They wish to stop work for five days.”

Mohamed said that the association had informed the Civil Service Commission (CSC) about the strike last Thursday, but added that it had yet to responded to the association on the matter.

”We do not have much hope that the salaries will be restored,” Mohamed said. ”Nobody seems to realise the importance of civil servants, so when they stop their work, people will understand the services they deliver.”

The MCSA has said that it hopes the strike action will bring the issue of civil service cuts to the attention of the government and the wider international community.

”We know the strike will not restore salaries for the sector and we also understand it is no solution,” the MCSA spokesperson added. “But we just want to bring it to the attention of the international community and the government.”

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CSC demands restored salaries be included in next year’s budget

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has called on the government to include the restored salaries for the civil servants in next year’s budget.

In September last year the Finance Ministry and the Civil Service Commission agreed to reduce the salaries of civil servants for three months because of the country’s poor financial circumstances. The matter became controversial towards the end of September when the Finance Ministry refused to restore all of the salaries to former levels.

The CSC has since taken the Finance Ministry to court, winning the first round in the civil court and forcing the government to appeal in the High Court.

At the same time, in its Country Report for the Maldives, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowedged the “intense political pressure” but maintained that the restoration of public sector wages “would have a large fiscal impact”, and prevent economic recovery “in the near term”.

President of the CSC, Hassan Fahmy, said today that the commission had met with President Mohamed Nasheed to discuss the issue, and that he had told the commission that the salaries “could be restored soon.”

“Nine months have passed, and we have been trying to resolve the issue through the legal system,’’ Fahmy said. “When the Civil Court ruled that the Finance Ministry does not have the authority to give out orders to decrease the salaries of civil servants, instead of implementing the verdict, the government has appealed in the High Court.”

The High Court has yet to rule on the issue.

Fahmy said the commission wanted “the original salaries of civil servants to be included in the budget next year.”

“It cannot be said that salaries were ‘increased’,” Fahmy said. “It will be the ‘original’ salary of civil servants.”

He said the commission had also sent a letter to the president yesterday as well.

“If it is included in the budget, then it will be for the MPs to approve it [and not the government],’’ Fahmy said. “We hope the government will understand and take leadership to restore the salaries of civil servants.”

The President has meanwhile established a committee to hold discussions between the governtment and the CSC, according to a statement issued by the President’s office.

The Committee will be chaired by the President and will include Minister of Finance and Treasury Ali Hashim, Minister of Economic Development Mahmood Razee, Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Ibrahim Didi, President of CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, Vice President of CSC Ahmed Hassan Didi, CSC member Dr Mohamed Ali, CSC member Khadheeja Adam, Secretary General of CSC Abdulla Khaleel.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and State Minister for Finance Ahmed Assad were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Letter on civil servant food allowance

Dear Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC),

Assalaamualaikum Wrh. Wbr.

My civil servant colleagues and I congratulate you for your nomination as the new President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

We take this opportunity to bring to your attention that there are a number of civil servants who are entitled to a food allowance but have not been paid to date.

This we believe is because they are not the majority. But we also believe the CSC must respect the feelings of the minority as well and that we hereby request you to look into the issue a bit seriously and without any further delay.

We have seen that a staff member travelling to the workplace by bus, organised by the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), are paid a food allowance, but the same staff travelling to the workplace by sea –
much further in terms of distance and much more difficult to travel – have NOT been paid a food allowance.

If we look at the set rules and regulations for providing a food allowance we believe it contradicts the rule and how it is been practiced because the rule says a staff member travelling to a workplace other than his/her residence are entitled to a food allowance and a travel allowance.

Again, this in contradictory when those who don’t get a food allowances are still provided with a travel allowance, which doesn’t really make sense and is really problematic.

Now the question is why these employees are been paid a travel allowance if they are not entitled to a food allowance. We believe travel allowance has been paid for the same reason as the food allowance has been paid.

Since the issue has been repeatedly notified to the Zinmaadhaaru Verin (ZV) and the Permanent Secretaries (PS) but remains unattended and ignored, please kindly try to help the civil servants get their entitled food allowance as soon as possible.

Sincerely yours,

Mohamed

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President appoints JSC and CSC members

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed three members to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the independent body charged with oversight of the judiciary.

The three new members – Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla, High Court Judge Abdulla Ghanee, and Mohamed Fahmee Hassan, President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), took their oath of membership of JSC before Supreme Court judge Abdulla Areef and were presented with letters of appointment.

President Mohamed Nasheed also appointed Mohamed Fahmee Hassan as the President and Ahmed Hassan Didi as the Vice President of the Civil Service Commission.

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