HARIPUR: Students of Government Post Graduate College for Boys staged a demonstration here on Tuesday against the provincial government’s decision to outsource its educational institutions.

Carrying placards and shouting slogans against the government’s outsourcing policy, the protesters blocked the GT Road near Darwesh Chowk, suspending traffic on the main artery for around half an hour.

They dispersed peacefully later.

Students of different government colleges here have been boycotting their classes since Sept 2 against the outsourcing decision.

The government defends the decision, insisting it will enhance enrollments and improve quality of education.

It claims only the schools and colleges with low enrollments were being outsourced, with the jobs of teachers remaining unaffected.

CYLINDER BLAST: Nine people, including a shop’s owner and his son, suffered burn injuries when a gas cylinder exploded here.

Police and witnesses said the explosion ripped through the shop during the repair of a cylinder’s nozzle valve.

The police quoted an injured man, Mohammad Huzaifa of Meelam village, as saying that the incident occurred when he and his brother were present at the Raja White Gas Shop on the Saeyen Sehaili Road for the refilling of a LPG cylinder.

“A spark caused the loud explosion, leaving me, my brother, shop owner and six others with burn injuries,” he insisted.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025