Second consecutive day: PCS officers continue protest

Demand case pending against PAS workers in K-P Assembly be resolved

PESHAWAR: The pen-down strike of Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officers continued for a second day on Thursday outside the chief secretary’s office at Civil Secretariat.

Information Technology Staff Association (ISTA), protesting for their up-gradation from grade-12 to grade-16, were also present at the camp set up in the lawn between the establishment and law departments.

The protesters shouted slogans against Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan and demanded his removal from the post. Others present included politicians from the Pakistan Peoples Party, including former federal minister Najamuddin Khan, K-P assembly member Fakhar Azam Khan and Sahibzada Sanaullah.

Sanaullah and Fakhar assured protesters that their grievances would be addressed in the K-P Assembly and a resolution would be passed in their favour. “It is now our responsibility to force the government to take solid steps in this regard,” Sanaullah said. Ubaidullah Mayar, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker from Mardan, also assured his support. The protesters stuck to their demand of the removal of the chief secretary, calling him “the root-cause of the administrative crisis” in the province. They held him responsible for the “discrimination and victimisation” against PCS officers.

They also demanded that the case pending against Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) officers in the K-P Assembly be resolved at the earliest. The officers wanted to see the report of an assembly technical committee looking into the matter. The committee is headed by Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli.

Let’s talk

The demand of the chief secretary’s removal was intimated to a four-member committee of the provincial cabinet formed to negotiate with the protesting bureaucrats. The committee includes Senior Minister Sikandar Sherpao, Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Atif Khan, Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said and Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Mushtaq Ghani.

The committee members visited the protesters’ camp and were handed a charter of demands. However, the officer said negotiations could only begin after the removal of the chief secretary.

The committee members said they would discuss the demands with the chief minister and proceed further. In conclusion, the PCS officer decided to continue with their sit-in at the same place on Friday (today). The K-P Assembly also has a session on the same day and the matter is likely to be raised on the floor of the house.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2016.