Clerks want implementation of PPC’s recommendations

Workers of ALL Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) on Wednesday held a protest rally against the government for ignoring their Pay and Pension Commission recommendations. The protestors marched from Policlinic Hospital to parliament house where they staged a sit-in. The rally was attended by a large number of clerks while MNAs from Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Senator Saleem Saifullah also joined the protestors. Enraged protestors said the government should implement the recommendations of Pay and Pension Commission (PPC). “The PPC recommended the government to increase the salaries of its employees by 30 to 70 percent but nothing has been done so far,” protestors alleged.
They urged the government to increase their salaries by 200 percent and to increase their medical allowance from Rs 1000 to Rs 3000, also demanding that the conveyance allowance be given to all clerks all over the country instead of just to a selected few. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and MNA Khalida Mansoor said President Asif Ali Zardari was making alliances with all political parties just to save his government adding, “Why the government could not make such alliances to resolve the problems being faced by the masses?”
Later, Federal Minister for Communications Arbab Alamgir Khan came and assured the protestors that their issues will be resolved soon. Speaking on the occasion, Alamgir said the PPP government reinstated all the government officers who were retrenched during 1996 because PPP always fought for the rights of the common man, adding that “We will soon regularize the services of those working on daily wages.” He vowed to bring the issues of APCA to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s table.