Govt employees demand end to political interference

MARDAN: Office-bearers of various government employees’ organisations have urged the government to immediately cease political interference in government departments and halt the politically motivated posting and transfer of employees in Mardan.

According to a press statement, the employees held a meeting on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, Aurangzeb Kashmiri, Central Secretary General of All Pakistan Clerks Association (Apca), Usman Sangar, President of Education Council, Fazal Qayyum, President of Paramedics, Arshad Khan, Hafiz Iman, President of Wahdat Asataza, Niaz Ali Khattak, Provincial General Secretary of Malgari Ustazan, Maqbool Shah, Afridi Khan, Ayaz Khan, Safur Khan, Sami-ur-Rehman, Dil Naz Begum, and others expressed their concerns.

They emphasised that government employees had high expectations from the PTI government, having played a significant role in its three-time election victory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They recalled that PTI founder Imran Khan had campaigned on the slogans of merit, rule of law, and ending political interference in institutions. However, they claimed that PTI members of the assembly were currently using political influence for postings and transfers in Mardan district, which they termed intolerable.

The political interference, they said, had caused great anxiety among government employees in the district.The speakers alleged that many transfers and postings in various government institutions in the Mardan district had been carried out on political grounds.

They demanded that the politically influenced transfers be cancelled within five days, warning that they reserved the constitutional right to protest if their demands were not met.The employee organisations’ leaders stated that the transfer of employees on political grounds contradicted PTI policies and the rules and regulations governing such actions. They announced that a committee had been formed to engage with PTI’s elected members and officials to seek the cancellation of politically motivated transfers.