LOWER DIR/SHANGLA: Insaf Teachers Association (ITA), Lower Dir chapter, on Friday announced to join the protest rally of All Government Employees Grand Alliance to be held in Peshawar on April 6 in case the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government failed to increase salaries of its employees. The teachers and other government employees in Shangla also made a similar announcement.

Lower district ITA president Tahir Altaf demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to immediately announce a 25 per cent increase in salaries of all government employees from grade-1 to grade-19.

In a press statement issued here, he said if the government did not accept the demand of the alliance before April 6 the Lower Dir ITA would also join the protest rally in Peshawar. He asked all workers associated with his organisation to get ready for participation in the Peshawar protest sit-in against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for its failure to increase the salaries of its employees by 25 per cent.

Mr Altaf said the federal government had already announced a 25 per cent ad hoc relief in the salaries of its employees while the provincial government was deliberately delaying the matter.

Dir ITA, workers from Shangla to join protest in Peshawar on 6th

He said that rising inflation had made the life of salaried class miserable. The ITA also demanded merger of all ad hoc reliefs into the basic pay of employees.

In Shangla, a meeting of local chapter of All Government Employees Grand Alliance was held in Alpuri on Friday. It was chaired by alliance district chairman Islam Yousafzai and its office-bearers and employees from different government departments, including teachers.

The employees said the government had promised 25 per cent salary increase with them, but now it was using delaying tactics.

Mr Yousafzai said their provincial leadership had given a call for holding a protest rally on April 6 in Peshawar and they would join it to press the government to fulfil its commitment.

He said they would continue the strike till the government issued a notification of increase in their salaries while all offices in Shangla would also be closed during the strike days.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2021