LAKKI MARWAT: The wildlife department on Sunday confiscated 20 spiny-tailed lizards from the possession of a man in Lakki city.

DFO Khan Malook told Dawn that the action was taken on information that a man had come to the weekly fair to sell lizards to quacks.

“A team was tasked to foil the bid and arrest the offender,” he maintained, saying the wildlife employees arrested Qaiser Zaman, hailing from Karak district, and seized from him 20 spiny-tailed lizards.

He added a case had been registered against the arrested man under relevant sections of the Wildlife and Biodiversity Act, 2015.

“Under the act all species of lizards are protected and included in the third schedule,” said Mr Malook.

He said the lizards were captured from wild and sold to quacks that cut them open to get fat and extract oil through heating.

“The oil extracted from the fat of lizards has a soaring demand as it is considered to be useful to cure headache, backache and ear, kidney and muscle pain,” he said, adding the use of oil taken from fats of lizards was not only harmful for human health but was also causing decline in the population of the specie.

NONPAYMENT OF SALARY: The employees’ union of working folks’ grammar higher secondary school, Naurang, has threatened to expand its agitation against the nonpayment of salary.

Talking to journalists on Sunday, the union’s leaders said the government had withheld the salary of regular employees, including teachers, for the month of January.

“The contractual employees have not been paid salary since June, last year,” claimed Sabz Ali, a union leader.

Hidayatullah, another leader, said the teaching and non-teaching staff had been on strike, but the authorities were unmoved to their concerns. He said the regular teachers had been forced to take additional classes in the schools due to the strike of the contractual employees. “But despite that they are not being paid salary on time,” he regretted.

Another leader said the tall claims made by government to extend a package of perks and privileges and service structure to the employees of working folks schools proved false.

He regretted that students belonging to poor workers’ families had been deprived of facilities of free transport, uniform and textbooks.

They demanded of the government to order payment of the withheld salary to the employees without delay.

OFFICE-BEARERS ELECTED: The local chapter of the school officers association elected its new office-bearers unopposed in a meeting held at Government Higher Secondary School, Tajazai, according to a statement issued on Sunday.

The participants unanimously elected Principal Mohammad Umar as president and Hikmatullah as general secretary of the body.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2017