Contract employees of UoP stage protest outside KP Assembly

PESHAWAR: The contract employees of the University of Peshawar (UoP) on Friday staged a protest outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to press the government to ask the university administration to renew their contracts and regularise their services.

The nearly 600 contract employees of the university, whose contracts expired some three months back, have been staging demonstrations for the last two months. The university administration said that they could not renew their contracts, as the universities’ act didn’t allow them to give contracts to any employee beyond three years. The employees have already moved the court to have their contracts renewed. Though the court is yet to decide the case, the employees have been mounting pressure on the university administration to renew their contracts. On Friday, the protesting employees went out of the campus and staged a protest demonstration outside the provincial assembly. They were chanting slogans against the university administration. “Go VC Go” was the main slogan chanted by the protesting employees.

The office of the vice-chancellor has already been advertised and the process for appointment of a new one was still underway. The pro-vice-chancellor of the university has been looking after the university affairs. A senior official in the university administration said that they have been barred by the universities act not to extend the contract of any contractual employees beyond three years. “The matter has also been under trial in the court. Whatever, the court decides the issue, they would obey the orders,” he added.

Corruption-free system only solution to challenges: minister

While inflation rate has increased in the country, the government is taking steps to control it, stated Provincial Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai on Friday.

Addressing a session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Youth Assembly, Shaukat said that at a time when the country’s economy is on the right track and the epidemic has been brought under control, the opposition’s verbal war on the government and national security agencies is tantamount to strengthening the hands of hostile forces.

He said that non-discriminatory accountability continues against the corrupt mafia in the country and added that honest youth must replace the corrupt politicians.

Shaukat Yousafzai further said that political training of the youth is also necessary for the promotion of a political culture free from nepotism. “There is no room for corrupt and dishonest people in the political culture of PTI, that is why the selfless youth have succeeded in making their place in the political landscape,” he added. “The youth should promote a culture of debate and try to learn all the codes of politics so that they can bring the problems of the people to the elected houses in a decent manner,” he said.