MIANWALI, Sept 3: A week-long hustle and bustle at the Mianwali education office was cut short when the officials received a memorandum from the Punjab Chief Minister Secretariat ordering cancellation of all postings and transfers of teachers by the EDO from Aug 26 last.

The EDO (education) had ordered transfers and postings of a number of teachers after lifting of a ban on it.

A directive signed by G.M. Sikandar, principal secretary to chief minister, addressed to the DCO and EDO (education), read: “All the transfer orders issued on the basis of violation of policy be cancelled immediately, except the transfers like adjustment against vacant posts, those under wedlock policy and inter-district transfers.

The chief minister called for a compliance report on a priority.

According to reports, the district government had issued transfer orders of more than 500 teachers on the demands of tehsil nazims, district council members, councillors and teacher union leaders.

They pleaded that many teachers had been politically victimised during the tenure of the former district nazim and in some cases teachers had been posted for decades at one station and wished to be posted at their nearest stations.

It is learnt that some teachers were asked to leave their home stations in order to facilitate others on the recommendations of the nazims and councillors.

Some of the ‘victimised’ teachers claimed that they had contacted Punjab Revenue Minister Gul Hameed Rokhri who helped cancellation of the transfer orders.

When contacted, Mr Rokhri said the first ever Mianwali district government, headed by his son Humair Hayat Khan Rokhri, did not order mass transfers of teachers like the incumbent authorities had done.

He said Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi would not allow nazims to follow the policy of personal gains.

District Nazim Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel was not available for comments.