School teachers from different parts of the province staged a sit-in outside the Chief Minister (CM) secretariat at the Mall Road on Tuesday demanding an up gradation of their basic pay scales and also threatened to hold a sit-in with their families and students if their demands were not met by the government.
Earlier, teachers staged a rally from Regal Chowk to CM secretariat amid tight security of the police as it was the first protest on the Mall Road after the deadly blast in February that took place at the same location claiming 14 lives including that of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Traffic.
Special squads of Anti-Riot Force were present at the sight, while Superintendent of Police (SP) Civil Lines Ali Raza also remained present there till the end of the sit-in. It is worth mentioning here that DSP and SHO Civil Lines issued a warning letter alerting the teachers that any terror incident may take place on the Mall Road and urged them to postpone their sit-in keeping in view the security situation of the country. “You will be responsible for any untoward incident happening here,” the letter said, while addressing the convener of United Teacher Council (UTC)-an amalgamation of eight different bodies of teachers’ union.
The caravans of teachers started reaching Lahore from different cities of the province including Gujranwala, Gujarat, Kasur, Okara, Multan etc.
Arif Masih, who came from Gujranwala, told Pakistan Today that he has been working in the same grade (14) where he was appointed on the very first day of his service some 22 years ago. “In this age of inflation, teachers are unable to meet the expenses of their children as their salaries are not increasing with the pace of inflation,” Arif said, who is an EST teacher and an EST teacher in other provinces is getting grade 16. A large number of female teachers were also present there in the scorching heat to press for their demands. Mrs Kausar Bhatti, who came from Okara, said that it is shameful that the daughters and mothers of the country are on the roads while the rulers are in slumber with closed ears. “These are not the corridors of power as they are just graveyards where only dead people are buried who do not pay any heed towards the problems of the heirs of knowledge,” she said, while pointing out towards the CM secretariat.
Tariq Mahmood, convener of the United Teacher Council, told this scribe that the government is trying to privatise the education sector by handing over schools to private sector under the ‘Punjab Daanish Schools’ and Centers of Excellence Authority Act 2010, but they will resist the nefarious designs of the government. “We demand grade 14, 16 and 17 for the PST, EST and SST teachers instead of current grade 12, 14 and 16, respectively,” he said. He was of the view that the teachers will offer Eid prayer at Charing Cross with their families, in protest, if the government does not accept their demands. According to Kashif Shahzad, Secretary General of Punjab Teachers Union, as many as 4 lac teachers of the Punjab are united in demanding their due right of scale up gradation.
