PESHAWAR/LAKKI MARWAT: Employees of various government departments, including contractual workers, on Tuesday held protest demonstrations for increase in their salaries, regularisation of services, and promotion.

The protesters gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club and shouted slogans.

Contractual employees of the livestock extension project demanded of the government to regularise their services on pattern of those working in the merged tribal districts.

They claimed the employees belonging to merged districts were regularised but those hailing from other districts were ignored.

Umar Hayat, a representative of the protestors, said many workers were sacked a month ago without prior notice, which, he said, was an act of sheer injustice.

Say many sacked without prior notice

Members of the All Pakistan Class-1V Employees Association, Pakistan Railways Prem Union, Peshawar and Pakistan Workers Federation led by Akbar Khan Mohmand, Mehr Ilahi Hoti and Razim Khan respectively took out separate processions along the Sher Shah Suri Road outside the press club building. The protesters held banners and placards inscribed with demands for increase in salary, other allowances and promotions.

The Pakistan Railways workers wore black armbands and shouted slogans against the federal budget. They demanded at least 50 per cent increase in their salary.

Workers of the Pakistan Workers Federation warned they would march on Islamabad if the government did not pay heed to the acceptance of their demands.

They said the employees faced serious financial problems due to unprecedented hike in prices, so immediate pay raise and speedy promotions should be announced.

The protesters said the prices of different items, especially food commodities, had gone up tangibly but the government was not interested in providing relief to the workers hit by price hike.

They called for the appointment of siblings of the retired and deceased employees to public sector departments.

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation in a meeting at Shalimar Garden Peshawar said that government had totally ignored them in the federal budget.

Representative of the federation Malik Naveed demanded of the provincial government to announce increase in the salary of local government employees.In Lakki Marwat, the Wahdat-i-Asateza, a teachers’ body, rejected the federal budget declaring it against the wishes and sentiments of government employees.

During a meeting chaired by Maulana Abdul Baqi Jan, the participants said the government employees were disappointed by the budget as it had nothing for them.

They said the salary and pension were frozen at the behest of the International Monetary Fund.

The speakers including Maulana Tameezuddin, Abdul Waheed, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, Anwar Sadiq Khan and Mohammad Sultan said high inflation had stressed out the employees, who struggled to make both ends meet. They demanded a hefty increase in salaries and pension for them.

The speakers also called for the sanctioning of Qari posts for middle schools and grant of BPS-15 to Qari teachers.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2020