LARKANA, Feb 8: Clerks observed a strike and locked offices of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) of Larkana on Tuesday in the wake of a dispute over appointments.

“We have talked to the board chairman on Monday and he agreed upon postponing appointments for at least 10 days. But he (chairman) deviated from the commitment and announced the result of written examination and put it on the unconcerned website,” said Mohammed Ali Depar, president of the All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA), BISE chapter, while talking to this correspondent.

The venue for the oral examination was changed at the eleventh hour on Tuesday from the technical college to Deeni Madrassah, which spoke of intentions of the chairman, said Abid Hussain Mangi, general secretary of the APCA's BISE chapter. The chairman had announced new vacancies in contravention of rules, he said.

The union had hacked the website so the result was displayed on another site constructed in a hurry, according to the chairman.

Mr Mangi questioned the appointments at a time when the board was facing a budget deficit. But the chairman contented that the board had provisions and approval for recruiting 56 lower employees and budget for the purpose had been earmarked.

Union leaders brushing aside the claim said in the charter of demands submitted on Dec 8, 2010, that with new appointments, the BISE would collapse because it was confronting financial constraints. The annual deficit was about Rs25,000,000, Mr Mangi said.

They accused the chairman of spending huge amounts on purchasing vehicles, furnishing the residential room, misusing heavy generator and telephones. These activities had had compounded the financial burden on the BISE, Mr Mangi said.

When contacted, the chairman failed to respond.

The protest would continue, the union leaders said and announced holding demonstrations outside the Larkana press club, the mausoleum of Benazir Bhutto, Supreme Court of Pakistan and the President House.

The chairman says that they (union leaders) want parallel power and some of the staff members have misappropriated Rs332,000 from the examination fees in 2010 and six officers were served show-cause notices.