14 May 2004	Friday	23 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

RAWALPINDI, May 13: The All-Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) on Thursday observed a countrywide pen-down strike to press the government for acceptance of its charter of demands.

Like in other parts of the country, the APCA also observed strike in Rawalpindi. APCA members from 28 different departments, including food, forest, soil conservation, poultry, building, education, agricultural engineering and social welfare, etc., started their strike in the morning and came out to the compounds of their respective offices and chanted anti-government slogans.

Association central office secretary Mehboob Ali Batti, chairman action committee Chaudhry Mubashir Ahmed, senior vice-president Arshad Javed Bankial, junior vice-president Sajid Tehseen Shah and others visited various departments and met the clerks.

They said despite passage of a long time the government had not accepted their 13-point charter of demands, which sought increase in salaries of the clerks according to the ratio of inflation, upgradation of pay scales and provision of house rent and travel allowance, etc.

They demanded that keeping in view the inflation rate, the salary of a clerk should at least be more than Rs9,000. The clerks also termed the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO) 2000 a black law and against the interests of the working class and asked the government to repeal it.