Teachers continue protest

LAHORE: A sit-in by public sector college teachers against the Punjab government entered its third consecutive day on Thursday.

Hundreds of college teachers from different cities of the province joined the protest sit-in which was called by the Punjab Professors & Lecturers Association (PPLA) against the provincial government for ignoring plight of the teachers.

The PPLA has been demanding swift promotions and five-tier promotion formula in line with one being followed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, regularisation of those serving on contract and implementation of service structure and pay protection of contract and regular college teachers.

The Mall in front of Punjab Assembly has been blocked for the third consecutive day causing immense problems to commuters on various adjacent roads. The protest sit-in which is being attended by college teachers from across the province gets thinner at night when around a dozen of the teachers could be seen at the venue.

A college teacher, Imran, said many of the incumbent PTI ministers had visited similar protests by college teachers during the previous government when the party was in opposition.

“They (the PTI ministers) know our issues very well and had been our supporters but today they no more care about us,” Imran added. The protest sit-in continued till filing of this report.

Three more buses for PU: Punjab University (PU) has added three more buses to its existing fleet of buses for providing better transportation facilities to the students. The inauguration ceremony in this regard was held at PU Transport Wing here on Thursday. PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, Registrar Dr Muhammad Khalid Khan, Resident Officer-I Jalil Tariq, Resident Officer II Malik Muhammad Zaheer, Hall Council Chairman Prof Dr Abid Hussain, senior official Wazir Khan and the staff from the transport wing were present on the occasion.

Prof Niaz Ahmad said the administration was committed to solving the problems being faced by the university teachers, employees and students.

Delegation: A 12-member delegation from National Institute of Management (NIM) on mid-career management course visited Punjab University.

According to a press release, the delegation called on Faculty of Commerce Dean Prof Dr Mubsher Munawar at PU’s Hailey College of Commerce. External Linkages Director Prof Dr Kanwal Ameen and senior faculty members were also present.

Dr Mubbsher briefed the delegates on the academic and co-curricular activities at the university. The delegates later visited various departments, including PU Library.