- Protesters say they have not been paid for nine months
ISLAMABAD: The female daily-wage teachers’ protest entered 53rd day on Thursday in the heart of the federal capital for regularisation of their services and for the release of their nine-month unpaid salaries, but the government has yet to take any steps in this regard.
The protesting teachers have set up protest camps in front of the press club for the last 53 days, and have started a nighttime sit-in along with their kids for the last two days, in order to ensure resolution of their problems. But unfortunately, the authorities concerned remain unmoved.
The protestors have vowed that they would keep on their whole night sit-in until acceptance of their demands and nothing could deter them.
Talking to Pakistan Today, the visibly dejected female teachers said that teaching is the most respectable and noble profession in the world, but unfortunately, teachers are being humiliated and are being considered as lower-class people in Pakistan. They said, “Look at us! We have been on the roads for acceptance of our due demands, but the government has little bothered about the wastage of the precious time of the poor students.”
What is sad is that they were baton-charged when they raised voice for their rights and cases have been registered against them, they complained.
The protestors further lamented that when they tried to come in front of disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s vehicle, he instead of listening to their genuine demands rushed to the court, which they said was unfortunate.
The protesting teachers said that they were not paid their salaries for the last nine months, but the high-ups were little concerned about it. They added that they have been serving for the last ten years, but their services were not being regularised despite clear directives of Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court.
“There are hundreds of teaching and non-teaching staff that work on daily wages in 423 model and federal government institutes running under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) for many years. But they are still deprived of their due right of regularisation of services as well as timely payment of salaries,” the teachers lamented.
They mainly blamed the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry for failing to end their miseries despite repeated promises.
Holding placards and shouting slogans, the protesters said that they would take all possible measures to claim their rights.
The FDE is overseen by the CADD and has over 2,000 daily-wage staff members, both teaching and non-teaching.
The daily wage teachers wanted the court to direct the federal government to issue notification, regularising their services.
They were of the view that the cabinet’s sub-committee on regularisation of employees, during the previous regime of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 2012-13, recommended the regularisation of daily wage teachers and other officials working in different government departments and ministries including CADD, but the incumbent government did not take steps in this regard.
At a time when the federal government is carrying out the multi-billion rupee Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme in the federal capital, the non-regularisation of the staffers and non-payment of salaries belie the government’s claims of bringing revolutionary changes in the education sector.
They said that the CADD minister is the main hurdle in the regularisation of their services because he wanted to adjust people of his own constituency for political mileage. However, they vowed that they would not budge an inch until their demands are met.
