LARKANA, July 17: A group of professors and lecturers observed a token hunger strike outside the press club on Tuesday in response to a call given by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) to protest against the government’s delay in regularising ad hoc lecturers.

The lecturers demanded regularisation of 863 ad hoc lecturers and upgradation of their posts in accordance with the policy of the Higher Education Commission.

They said that only Sindh was delaying regularisation of its ad hoc lecturers while the other provinces had regularised their services a long time ago. A summery on regularisation sent to Chief Minister House was awaiting chief minister’s signature, he said.

Their salaries had been withheld since the summery was sent to Chief Minister house, they complained and announced that the protest would continue till the government accepted their demands.

Our Hyderabad bureau adds: A large number of college lecturers staged a token hunger strike outside the press club under the banner of SPLA on Tuesday to press the government for accepting their demands.

Talking to journalists, Ayaz Halepoto, Rashid Unnar, Pandhi Khan Talpur and Ali Asghar Otho demanded that ad hoc lecturers should be confirmed in service and paid salaries of five months, college teachers should be upgraded on the pattern of university teachers, 500 vacant posts of teachers in grade-18, 19 and 20 should be filled through promotions, political interference in universities and educational boards should be stopped and the retired officers reappointed in the educational boards should be removed.