RAWALPINDI: A pen-down strike in all Punjab government departments created inconvenience for the public as government employees refused to work until the caretaker government met their demand to reverse amendments to leave encashment and pension rules.

On the call of a joint alliance of government employees, teachers, and revenue officials on the platform of the All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA), schools and government offices remained closed.

The offices of provincial departments, including the commissioner, deputy commissioner, land revenue offices, and others, as well as the majority of schools and colleges, remained closed on Thursday.

As many as 34 organisations of the employees of various Punjab government departments, including health, education, and higher education, besides the members of the All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA).

Due to the closure of the land revenue department, many people coming from small villages and city areas for registration of their property went back to their homes as the officials refused to work. The directorate of education on Murree Road remained closed as well.

The protesters carrying placards were chanting slogans against caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his cabinet and said they were already suffering from the worst inflation and the lowest salary structure in Punjab as compared to other provinces.

Speaking on the occasion, the speakers said that more than 50,000 employees from all over Punjab should end the cruel law of leave encashment of June 1 and the proposed amendments in pension and prevent the schools of the education department from being privatised.

They condemned police action on government employees and said that it would not end the protest campaign as more protesters would reach Lahore on Friday. They also said that instead of accepting the demands of these employees, the caretaker government took the path of coercion, and while employees were sleeping in the dark of the night, the police raided and made arrests.

In Rawalpindi, Malik Zaheer, Saadat Habib, and Anwar Butt held a meeting of various officials and decided to lock schools on Friday. APCA General Secretary Chaudhry Riaz issued a written letter to all the units about locking the offices of all departments.

College lecturers join hands with protesting teachers in Attock

The protest and pen-down strike by the teachers and employees of the provincial government intensified on Thursday as lecturers serving in all six tehsils of district Attock joined them on the third day of the protest.

President Punjab Professor and Lecturers’ Association Attock chapter Prof Hub-i-Ali, while addressing the participants of the protest rally, said that the lecturers and professors of all colleges in the district have joined hands with their fellow protesting teachers and clerks to press the provincial government for acceptance of their demands.

Chairman of the AGEGA Attock chapter, Asif Kamran, while addressing the occasion, said that the seriousness of the rulers to address the issue could be judged from the fact that no government representative approached them to address their concerns despite their three-day protest.

President AGEGA Attock chapter Malik Mohammad Afzaal, criticised the government for pursuing anti-worker and labour policies.

Chairman of the All Pakistan Clerk Association (APCA) Attock Chapter, Yasir Ali Khan Alizai, speaking on this occasion, also condemned this recent action of the Punjab government.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2023