Govt employees protest for increase in salary

MARDAN: Hundreds of employees of different government departments staged a protest rally at Bacha Khan Chowk, demanding the authorities to give them pay raise.

A large number of government employees from Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera and Swabi participated in the rally. The employees had gathered at the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) building. More than 56 different organizations of government employees attended the protest. Later, the protesters started marching toward Bacha Khan Chowk.

The protesters holding banners inscribed with their demands chanted slogans against the federal and provincial governments. The protesters blocked Bacha Khan Chowk for all kinds of traffic for some time as a mark of protest. Pakistan Workers Federation Coordinator, Shaukat Ali Anjum, Islamuddin, Haider Ali, Samiullah Khan, Usman Sangar, Hafiz Zubair, Ikram Bacha, Faizullah Khan and others led the rally.

Addressing the rally, the protesters criticized the federal and provincial governments for not increasing their in salaries in the budget. They demanded the government to increase their salaries by 200 percent. They said that they could not manage the expenses in the face of skyrocketing inflation. The protesting employees said that reducing the retirement age was not acceptable to them.

They condemned the federal government for implementing the anti-employees agenda at the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The employees said that when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders were in the opposition they would express sympathy with them, but today when they were in power they are implementing the policies of the IMF. Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully.