February 01, 2008	Friday	Muharram 22, 1429

PESHAWAR, Jan 31: The Sarhad College Teachers Association has threatened to boycott the election duties if promotion in the basic pay scale is not granted to the teachers.

It was decided in a meeting chaired by president of the association Professor Sabaz Ali Khan, held at Government College Peshawar, says a press release issued here on Thursday.

Besides others, general secretary Professor Mohammad Akram Khan and senior vice president of the association Professor Nasrullah Khan Yousufzai were also present on the occasion.

The meeting expressed concern over not promoting the college teachers to next scale, as announced by former prime minister Shaukat Aziz.

The meeting said all the provincial government employees had been given one step promotion from their existing scales, but the college teachers remained devoid of the promotion.

The meeting gave a deadline of Feburary 15 to the government for acceptance of their demand.

Voting right

Delay in announcement of election duties has reportedly deprived a good number of government employees from the right of casting their votes through postal ballot, adds our correspondent from Lakki Marwat.

“Most of the government officials particularly college teachers received orders of election duty on December 28, 2007, the last date the Election Commission of Pakistan fixed for the submission of applications with the returning officers to get postal ballots,” a college teacher said, adding that some teachers even received the election duties after December 28.

He said that teachers had been appointed as presiding officers of the polling stations for the forthcoming general elections. He said that several teachers applied for getting postal ballots on the last day while the others submitted their applications in this respect after the date fixed for the process was expired.

“The delay in submitting application forms with the authorities concerned for getting the postal ballots is not on our part,” he said.

He feared that a large number of government servants especially college teachers would be deprived of using their right of franchise if they were not provided with the postal ballots.

He lamented that the ECP revised the election schedule after the assassination of former prime minister and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto but date for submission of application forms for postal ballots was not extended.

“About 33 teachers and other employees of the Government Post Graduate College Lakki City and the Government Degree Colleges of Ghaznikhel and Eesakkhel through a written complaint apprised the district returning officer of the whole situation and requested for the issuance of postal ballots besides initiating inquiry into the matter to unearth the hidden hands behind the delay in delivery of election duties,” he said.

He said that copies of the complaint had been dispatched to the chief election commissioner, NWFP election commissioner and president of Sarhad College Teachers Association but any action in this regard on part of the officials concerned was still awaited.