SAHIWAL: The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) is working at a snail’s pace over implementation of an agreement signed on April 2 between the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) and the minister for higher education.

The agreement was signed as result of seven-day protest (March 26 to April 2) staged by the teachers in front of the Punjab Assembly.

PPLA President Hafiq Abdul Khaliq said no concrete step had been taken to implement the pay protection and five-tier promotion formula on KP pattern even a month after the agreement. He said there was no summary to be tabled for the chief minister’s approval.

Under the “agreement”, both summaries had to be tabled at the CM Punjab Office within two weeks. As for the third demand, “Training and Promotion”, still no comprehensive training plan had been made, he said.

A list of 2,580 college teachers in BS-18, 19 and 20 whose promotion had been pending for the last 30 months was formed and it was agreed that the teachers would be given training at the Divisional Headquarters and the University of Education (UoE), Lahore/Okara premises, simultaneously.

The PPLA president said the HED had failed to decide how funds would be released out of the Rs120 million budget set aside for the purpose. He expressed apprehension that the fund could lapse in case of further delay.

PPLA Lahore Division Secretary General Mr Mustafa said the HED had trained 44 college teacher batches from the UoE, Lahore in mid-April but no funds had been transferred so far.

Sources said the HED had promised that the UoE funds would be transferred till April 23 and the university had now refused to offer anymore training. They said the HED was reluctant to transfer funds even for previous training though it had committed to clear 2,580 college teachers for promotion.

The PPLA has called its executive council meeting on May 2 (Thursday) to discuss the issues.

Raja Yasir told Dawn that there could be “bureaucratic hurdles” but the government would fulfill the PPLA demands. He said he had asked additional secretaries Ms Shahida (Planning & Budget Wing) and Usman Khalid, HED (Establishment), to expedite the process of payments.

shopping bags’ hazards: People should avoid using single-use plastic shopping and polythene bags as their usage is dangerous both for environment and personal hygiene and that experts say plastic bags are carcinogenic.

Speakers said this at a seminar followed by a walk on Tuesday by the Sahiwal Environment Protection Department (EPD) in collaboration with different stakeholders at the District Council Hall.

The walk was led by DC Muhammad Zaman Wattoo and District Council Chairman Zahid Iqbal, heads of local departments and activists of civil society.

Speakers urged the Punjab administration to follow the footstep of Hunza administration in Gilgit-Baltistan which has banned plastic shopping bags.

The DC said there was great need to raise awareness among the citizens about the dangers of the usage of plastic shopping bags as only ban would not work alone.

Speakers said shopping bags damaged local environment.

EPD Assistant Director Ali Ijaz said plastic bags cannot decomposed even after 500 years. It is said biodegradability of plastic bags can last 10 to 20 years in the marine environment, or more than 500 years on the ground causing pollution. “Every year, about one to five trillion plastic bags are used and discarded around the world,” Mr Ijaz added.

Environmentalists said the ban on black plastic shopping and less than 15 micron weight bags was not effective as many whole-sellers and retailers were not following guidelines determined by the government.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2019