Contract lecturers vow to continue protest

PESHAWAR: The contract lecturers serving in different colleges across the province have been protesting for the last three weeks to press the provincial government for regularising their services and release them nine-month salaries.

The contract lecturers – male and female – have set up the protest camp outside Peshawar Press Club, which continued for 17th consecutive day on Thursday. No one from the provincial government bothered to visit the protest camp.

Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, who also holds the portfolio of information, is frequently visits the Peshawar Press Club,
but even he could not spare time to meet these protesting lecturers and hold an assurance to them.

According to Nasir Ali, media secretary of the protesting lecturers, they tried their best to draw the attention of the provincial government but to no avail.

Only on Wednesday, they managed to get some attention from a member of the National Assembly from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, who visited their camp and assured them to take up the issue with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to have it resolved.

The total number of lecturers, who want regularisation is 213, including 117 male and 96 female. The female lecturers have also been regularly participating in the protest camp despite the unbearable heat-wave in the provincial metropolis. Some of the female teachers attended the protest along with minor children.

Though the provincial government on the one hand is not ready to listen to them, the protesting lecturers are determined to continue the protest till acceptance of the demand. Apart from physical fatigue, the protest is also causing financial losses to the lecturers, who have not been paid salaries for nine months.

“It costs me a thousand rupees a day to ensure my participation in the camp. We have been living in hotels here for the last three weeks,” one of the protesting lecturers said.

He added that owing to the non-payment of salaries, they are taking loans from different people to make both ends meet. “I have taken a loan amounting to Rs 400,000 from different people so far,” he added.

The lecturers urged the government to look into their genuine demand and ensure early payment of their withheld salaries.