QUETTA: Hundreds of Balochistan University employees, including senior professors, lecturers and other female staff members, protested in front of the university on Tuesday against the non-payment of their salaries for the past three months.

The demonstrators, gathe­ring at the university’s main gate, blocked the Sariab Road by setting up barricades and boulders, disrupting traffic to other cities.

Carrying placards and banners that voiced their grievances, the protesters chanted slogans against the management of the university and the provincial authorities.

Dr Kaleem Ullah Bare­ch, president of the Balochistan University Academic Association and leader of the protest, criticised the university’s administration for its inability to address the ongoing financial turmoil, which he said had resulted in halted salaries for both teaching and administrative staff.

“We have not received our monthly pay for the last three months, which has severely impacted all employees, particularly the non-teaching staff,” Dr Barech said, adding that the university had been facing a financial crisis for many years as the provincial government had failed to devise a viable solution.

He said retired employees had also not been paid their pension for many months, while active emp­loyees had been denied their other allowances, including house rent.

Speaking at the protest, other leaders of the joint action committee stressed that the university’s workforce was enduring significant hardship due to the prolonged non-payment of salaries amid persistently high inflation.

They called upon the federal and provincial governments, along with the Higher Education Commission, to allocate the necessary funding to alleviate the financial distress faced by Balochistan University.

“We will continue our protest sit-in until receiving our three months of salaries,” Dr Barech told Dawn, insisting that other public sector universities in Balochistan were also grappling with similar financial challenges.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2024