KHUZDAR: People of Khuzdar staged a protest rally here on Sunday against prolonged loadshedding, sacking of employees from the engineering university, alleged corruption in road construction and Benazir Income Support Programme and denying of employment opportunities to the educated youth.

The call for the protest rally was given by the Khuzdar Action Committee comprising the BNP-Mengal, PPP, Jamat-i-Islami, BNP-Awami, National Party-Hayee group, PTI, labour organisations, Disabled Persons’ Organisation, Unemployed Youths’ Association and Zamindars Action Committee.

Hundreds of protesters carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands marched on the main roads of Khuzdar town and chanted slogans against the government and different institutions.

After marching on the roads, they gathered at the local press club where leaders of various organisations spoke.

Speaking on the occasion, Agha Sultan Ibrahim Ahmedzai of the BNP-M, Maulana Muhammad Aslam of JI, Dr Hazoor Bakhsh Zehri of BNP-A, Khalid Mehmood Advocate of PPP, Sher Ahmed Qambrani of NP-H, Hafiz Ghulam Nabi Rind of PTI and labour leader Zulfiqar Shah criticised the role of elected representatives of Khuzdar region and said they had been enjoying all privileges and facilities as ministers for 10 years, but were doing nothing for the people who had elected them in the past two elections.

They said the engineers, doctors and other youths holding masters degrees in different fields were wandering in search of jobs.

They alleged that vacancies were on sale as without paying a huge amount no department was ready to give the youth a job.

They claimed that elected local bodies representatives were giving jobs to their near and dear ones instead of hiring people on merit.

They said that Khuzdar region was facing long and unannounced load-shedding which was destroying agriculture and people were not even getting drinking water. They said that instead of giving jobs to the educated youth, the Khuzdar Engineering University was sacking employees.

“Recently 14 employees were sacked from the university,” they said.

They also alleged that at the behest of the mayor of Khuzdar a woman teacher, who had been teaching the holy Quran in a school for four years, had been sacked and a close relative of the mayor recruited on that post.

They demanded that an inquiry should be conducted in various departments involved in corruption.

They also demanded that the chief minister, chief secretary and other authorities concerned should take notice of the situation and initiate action against those involved in corruption.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017