ISLAMABAD, June 2: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the “government accords highest respect and esteem to the teachers as they are the source of inspiration for our younger generation and assured to resolve their genuine problems”.
Talking to a delegation of teachers which met him at the Prime Minister’s House here this afternoon along with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Syed, the prime minister said that most of the demands of the teachers were related to the provinces and accordingly the matter would be taken up with the provincial governments for an early and amicable resolution.
He directed the federal ministry of education to call a meeting on the subject with appropriate representation in order to resolve the teachers’ problems.
The prime minister agreed in principle to the demands of timescale promotions made by the teachers in the meeting.
The delegation thanked the prime minister for understanding their problems, and considering their demands with sympathy and assuring them of his support for their resolution.
Earlier, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Rahat Quddusi visited the camp of the teachers on hunger strike at Aabpara Chowk and convinced them to call off their strike and brought them to the prime minister’s House.
The teachers ended their hunger strike and a six-member delegation of their representatives accompanied Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain to the PM’s House.
The teachers’ demands include regularisation of services, increase in salary, up-gradation of scales, provision of teaching allowance, restoration of selection grade, move-over and some other benefits.
The six-member teachers delegation included Chairman of Muttahida Mahaz-i-Asateza (Teachers United Front), Syed Nazir Hussain Shah, Raja Zafir Ahmed Satti, Abdul Ghafoor Kodezai, Liaqat Ali Didar, Sardar Gul Dawar and Haji Muzamil Tarnabi.
Talking to newsmen before leaving for PM’s Secretariat, the chairman of the Muttahida Mahaz-i-Asateza said that if their demands were not met in the meeting, they would again start their protest.
The teachers also held a protest demonstration in front of the District Coordination Officer’s (DCO) office in Rawalpindi where they chanted slogans in favour of their demands and criticised the government policies towards the teachers.
The teachers belonging to the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP, Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas had started their hunger strike on May 30 at Aabpara Chowk for the fulfilment of their demands.—Agencies