RAWALPINDI, June 17: The Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association has criticized the government for not increasing salaries of teachers in the budget 2002-2003.

“On the one hand, the finance minister claimed that economy was picking up, but on the other, the poor government employees were not given the 50 per cent raise as proposed by the Pay and Pension Committee,” the association president Mohammad Ilyas Qureshi said.

“This shows the apathy of the present rulers towards the poor workers,” he added.

He said, while announcing raise in the teachers salaries in the budget 2001-2002, the government had promised that the remaining 50 per cent increase would be given in the annual budget 2002-2003. But the government backtracked from its promise, he added.

Mr Qureshi said the teachers had been anxiously waiting for the budget hoping their salaries would be increased but they were not given a relief in the budget. Instead we have been burdened with taxes, he added.