Hope emerges for government school teachers

Islamabad: Raising a little glimmer of hope for the striking daily-wage staff members of Islamabad's government schools, a legal expert and city's two deputy mayors on Monday threw their weight behind their prolonged struggle for service regularisation.

However, the temporaries refused to resume duty until something tangible emerges on their demand for permanent jobs. The development comes as the representatives of these daily wagers led by Ihsan Sikandari, high court lawyer Shoaib Shaheen and Islamabad's deputy mayors Riffat Javaid and Zeeshan Ali Naqvi sat together in line with the directives of Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, state minister for the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), which oversees the local public sector educational institutions through the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).

The daily-wage teachers have been boycotting classes and agitating for two weeks to seek payment of withheld salaries and service regularisation. On last Thursday, the CADD minister had formed a committee consisting of the representatives of daily wagers, deputy mayors and legal expert to suggest a way forward on the matter in light of the relevant laws and court orders.

During the Monday meeting, which was a follow-up of the Thursday development, the temps complained about discrimination against them insisting the last PPP-led federal government had regularised the services of around 11,000 contractual employees but ignored them.

They said if others employed like them were given permanent jobs, their services should also be regularised. The lawyer along with the deputy mayors agreed to their point and told daily wagers that he would take up that with the CADD minister and secretary and FDE legal experts within two days to finalise a mechanism for the regularisation of their services, Mr Sikandari told 'The said.

He said the deputy mayors demanded an immediate end to the strike of daily wagers but he politely rejected the demand saying the authorities had made false promises to the temps about permanent jobs over the years and therefore, they won't resume duty until some tangible thing emerged on their demand.

Also in the day, the civil society activists and politicians also showed up outside the National Press Club to show solidarity with the protesting daily wagers and said they would raise voice for their rights at all available forums.