PESHAWAR: The Provincial Civil Service officers unconditionally called off their strike on Tuesday after talks with the four-member ministerial committee.

These officers had been on strike since May 2 to push the government into accepting their demands, including the removal of the chief secretary.

They had observed a token strike of two to four hours for around two weeks before staging a sit-in on the premises of the Civil Secretariat since last Wednesday.

The ministerial committee was headed by senior minister for irrigation Sikandar Sherpao and comprised finance minister Muzafar Syed, elementary and secondary education minister Mohammad Atif Khan and special assistant to the chief minister Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani.

Ghani told Dawn that the ministerial committee held talks with the protesting officers as well as the chief secretary and secretaries of provincial establishment and law departments to resolve the issue.

He said the talks were held in a positive atmosphere.

“There were many misunderstandings, which were removed during the meeting.

The officers’ demand for the removal of the chief secretary also came under discussion and they were told that it’s not the committee’s mandate to do so,” he said.

The special assistant to the CM said the committee members told protesters that the strike was no solution to any problem and that the government was ready to listen to and resolve all their problems.

He said the protesting officers informed the committee about their issues and that they demanded that the ministerial committee should be made a permanent body so that they could raise their issues before it for resolution.

Mr. Ghani said the committee members would update Chief Minister Pervez Khattak about the discussion and its outcome.

He said PCS officers would have proper quota in the provincial government’s jobs.

When contacted, PCS Officers Association president Sajid Jadoon said the strike had been ended unconditionally.

He said the PCS officers’ delegation consisting of Khalid Umerzai and Zaheerul Islam discussed the issues with the ministerial committee. He said it was agreed that all scheduled posts would be reviewed, while the apportionment formula between the PCS and All Pakistani Unified Group would be placed before the provincial assembly within a week.

“The PMS officers will get due share in transfers and postings, while the issue of the political agents’ appointment will be taken up with the governor,” he said. He said the meeting also decided that the inquiries would lapse if they’re not completed on time, while those, whose promotion was due, would be sent on training.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2016

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