March 20, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 16, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, March 19: The district government has requested the Punjab university and other educational institutions to expedite verification of degrees/certificates of teachers whose salaries have been withheld for the last six months, District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani said.

Letters have been written to all the universities and education boards concerned, asking them to verify the certificates as soon as possible, he said.

Mr Kiani said he had also asked the district education officials concerned to release the salaries of all those teachers whose degrees/certificates had been verified.

He admitted that the teachers were facing financial problems. “But, we cannot violate the rules under which no salary can be paid unless all degrees and certificates are verified,” he added.

All these teachers were appointed on contract basis by the district government in September last year.

Some of the affected teachers told Dawn that ‘bureaucratic red tape’ was causing the inordinate delay in the release of their salaries. They said the local EDO had been showing complete apathy to their problems. They claimed that he did not even meet them when they visited his office for their salaries or any other issue.

The leaders of teachers’ unions have also shown their concern over the delay in the release of the teachers’ salaries.

“This is great injustice with the educators. At first, they faced discrimination during appointment, and now the meagre salaries fixed for them are not being released,” a former president of the Punjab Teachers Union said.