March 02, 2008	Sunday	Safar 23, 1429

LARKANA, March 1: Protest-ing the suspension of seven employees of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Larkana, the board employees did not turn up to offices and locked the gates to prevent anyone from entering into building on Saturday.

Expressing solidarity with the All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) Larkana BISE unit, the members of different unit and departments of the APCA joined the protest.

The employees in BISE Hyderabad, Sukkur and Technical Board Of Education Karachi also held protest meetings backing demands of Larkana employees.

The general secretary of the APCA, Abid Mangi, told Dawn on Saturday that the Sindh governor had been requested to order an inquiry into the affairs of the board.

Our Sukkur correspondent adds: More than hundred officers and lower grade employees the Sukkur Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education staged a demonstration and observed pen-down and token hunger strike on Saturday in protest against suspension of seven officers of Larkana board.

The staged a demonstration after locking out their offices.

The protesters told journalists that the chairman of Larkana board Prof Mushtaque Sundrani wanted to fill 73 vacant posts with his favourites, and 37 had already been appointed without merit.

The inquiry committee headed by Brig Shafiqullah Qureshi was informed about the irregularities but the committee did not record the suspended officers’ statements, they claimed.

They demanded reinstatement of the suspended officers.