An extension: PCS officers to boycott duties for four hours daily

Officials on strike for another week; will turn protest into complete boycott if demands not met.

PESHAWAR: Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officers extended their strike for another week after which the association of these officials will announce its future plans. The agitating officers have announced this action at a time when the K-P government is finalising its budget for the coming fiscal year.

The PCS Officers Association has been on a symbolic strike since Monday last week and officials boycott duties daily for two hours, between 10am and 12pm. The move is an attempt to force the K-P chief secretary and provincial assembly into resolving issues relating to their services, promotion, transfer/postings and nomination for trainings.

However, the strike has now been extended from two to four hours and officials will boycott duties from 9am to 1pm for a week. Plans are to turn the token strike into a complete boycott if their demands are not met. This was decided during a meeting of the association at the Civil Secretariat in Peshawar on Monday.

“The strike will continue and all officers will wear black bands. The pen-down strike has been extended from two to four hours and will be observed by all 700 officers across K-P and Fata,” stated a press release issued by the association. Future action will be decided by the association’s core committee which comprises 30 officers from all grades.

The next meeting of the association will be held on coming Monday and a complete pen-down strike will be observed if the relevant authorities failed to respond in a manner suitable to the provincial officials.

The strike is set to continue till both administrative and legislative issues are completely resolved. The K-P Assembly has handed over the legislative aspect to its technical committee on law reforms.

According to the association’s members, the committee is not working on their issues as it was influenced by officials against the
PCS officers.

“We held a meeting with the chief secretary and he committed to resolving our administrative issues within two weeks. However, the provincial assembly has yet to approach us,” a member of the association who was at the meeting said.

The officer believes the chief secretary should not only withdraw “biased enquiries,” but also charge those officers who lodged them. “It is unacceptable to victimise a person for two years and later say you will only stop if the strike is called off. You have to charge those who victimised us through fake allegations,” a senior member of the association concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2016.