ISLAMABAD, May 20: Hundreds of teachers from across the country on Friday staged a protest demonstration at Aabpara Chowk. Leaders of the United Teachers Front threatened countrywide protest if their demands were not met. More than 1,000 teachers reached the federal capital despite police barricades established to stop them.

They gathered outside Lal Masjid and after offering Jumma prayers held a protest rally at Aabpara Chowk.

They announced a long march in capital and sit-in in front of the Parliament House, but heavy deployment of the police foiled their bids.

The protesters were set to proceed towards the Parliament House, where they had to stage a ‘sit-in’, however all the ways leading to the Parliament House were barricaded and a heavy contingent of police was deployed, due to which they could not proceed towards the venue and staged a peaceful protest at Aabpara Chowk.

Protesting teachers were carrying banners and placards inscribed with different demands and were chanting slogans against the government for not fulfilling their just demands.

United Teachers Front (UTF) and teacher unions of all the four provinces, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, gave the protest call.

United Teachers Front Chairman Haji Abdul Ghaffar Kadezai said teachers belonged to a respectable and noble profession and were peaceful. He regretted that police was deployed to stop them to reach Islamabad and stage a long march.

He said bureaucracy was a main hurdle in the solution of their demands and their demands.

If their demands are not met, he along with other union leaders will observe hunger strike till death on May 21.

On May 24, he said black day will be observed throughout the country and educational institutions will remain closed. On the same day protest demonstrations will be held at all the district headquarters.

On May 25-26 partial hunger strike camps will be set up at the main roads of all the district headquarters.

From May 30, protest demonstrations will be started throughout the country and “fill the jail’ movement will also be started, Mr Kadezai warned.

Teachers demanded of the government to enforce time scale in the educational institutions and restore ex-commutation table of selection grades, move-over and promotion on additional educational qualifications.

They demanded 60 per cent house rent on the current pay scales, Rs500 as medical allowance and Rs1,000 as conveyance allowance on monthly basis without ant discrimination of region, increase Rs100, 200 and 300 in the allowances of headmasters of the primary, middle and secondary schools respectively.

The UTF chairman demanded that education department should be handed over to the provincial government instead of district government. Equal pay scales should be given to the teachers of federal as well as provincial government, he added.

He asked the government to promulgate new pay scales from January 2005, as already promised. He also asked for ban on contractual appointment policy and giving jobs on regular basis. He demanded that teachers working on contract basis should be regularized and vacant vacancies be filled with the appointments of regular teachers.

At least 25 percent quota should be allocated in the professional institutions for the children of teachers, complete pension and gratuity be granted to the heirs of any teacher who expires during service.—PPI