Karachi
The Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association (SPLA) postponed its protest march towards the Chief Minister’s House on Monday when acting education secretary Mukhtar Hussain Soomro met them half way and assured them that he would personally discuss their demands with the serving education secretary, Dr Fazlullah Pechuho.
However, in case their demands were not accepted the SPLA decided to fix May 26 as the next date for organising another protest march towards the CM House.
Members and supporters of the SPLA had gathered at the Diwan Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Government Science College, to march toward the CM House when its leaders received a call from acting education secretary Soomro who invited a delegation to meet him with a request to put off their protest, at least for now. Soomro is actually the secretary for Sindh government’s industries and transport department.
Hence, a delegation comprising Central SPLA President Syed Ali Murtaza, Secretary-General Sher Khan Seelro, Karachi President Feroz Uddin Ahmed Siddiqui, Hyderabad President Shahjehan, Sukkur President Ayub Murree and executive committee member Asghar Shah went to meet Soomro.
The SPLA delegation decried that its members and supporters across the province had supported biometric verification but the provincial officials had never even bothered to even negotiate with them about their demands. They informed the acting secretary that on March 30, they had made an attempt to march towards the CM House but the anti-riot police had silenced them with water cannons and batons due to which at least three teachers had also been injured.
It was said that Prof Shoukat Jokhio of Government Degree College in Quaidabad had to be immediately taken to the Civil hospital because he got a deep wound on his head. Two others, Prof Muhammad Ayub and Prof Mehar Sultana, were also injured while the police had also arrested six teachers.
The SPLA demands increments and promotions for teachers and performance of college principals should be scrutinised. The teachers also demanded immediate implementation of four-tier upgrading policy already being implemented in the other three provinces.
The delegation called for setting up departmental promotion committees for the employees from BPS-18 to BPS-20, besides those who completed the seniority list of BPS-17 and BPS-18.
Another demand was to select and promoted, librarians and college principals by the departmental promotion committee, and also have it decide MPhil allowance and leave-with-pay-policy for teachers interested in MPhill and PhD degrees.
The SPLA leaders said for the past 16 years, teachers on BPS-17 in colleges of Sindh had been deprived of promotions.
Soomro was informed that a junior employee had been appointed as a regional director at the Director of Colleges, Sindh. It was said that the post of regional director was an official of BPS-20 while appointed Zameer Khoso was on BPS-19, besides also being quite junior to many others.
The SPLA leaders also claimed that the incumbent education secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho had also set up an 11-member committee after the last protest of March 30 that had unanimously recommended a four-tier formula for college teachers and advised to show 1,584 vacant and available positions in budget books so deserving teachers could be appointed on those upgraded posts.
According to the committee, it was said, 4:20:37:39 formula should be implemented as was already being done in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Unfortunately, they said, Dr Pechuho had refused to implement any of the recommendations shared by a committee.
On the other hand, acting secretary Soomro, a senior secretary on BPS-21, assured the SPLA delegation that he would personally discuss their demands with Dr Pechuho when he resumed office.
During the meeting, Soomro also agreed that 18 out of total 19 demands were reasonable and should be implemented without further delay.
He, however, refused to endorse fringe and post-retirement benefits for college teachers at par with other government servants.
The SPLA leaders while talking to The News said since a senior secretary had assured them of accepting their demands they would put off their protest. If the government still failed to deliver, they said, the next protest march will be planned for May 26.
Governor intervenes
A delegation of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association (SPLA) led by its provincial president Professor Ali Murtaza called on Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan on Monday.
The teachers apprised the governor about their issues, especially those related to pending promotions of teachers, in detail called for the implementation of a four-tier formula as a process of promotion, as it was in other provinces.
The governor heard the demands of the teachers and informed them that the matter had been brought into the attention of senior education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and serving education secretary and promised that soon a high-level meeting will be convened for the resolution of their problems.
Members of the SPLA delegation included Karachi president Prof Feroz Siddiqui and Karachi general secretary Prof Amir Ullah.