Back to work: Secretariat officers strike called off
Assurance of personal hearing by chief minister worked.
LAHORE:
The Provincial Management Services Association (PMSA) called off its strike on Thursday and got the assurance that Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif will personally listen to their grievances.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Thursday, PMSA president Rai Manzoor Nasir said that the strike had been called off after 15 days. During the strike, the president said, the PMSA officers faced the wrath of the District Management Group (DMG) in the form of registration of police cases, suspensions from service, transfers, issuance of show cause notices, threats and police raids at their residences.
Nasir denied, however, that the strike call was being withdrawn due to pressure from the government and because a large number of PMSA officers had withdrawn their support for the strike. He said, the strike had been called off considering the CM had said he would personally listen to their grievances.
He said that the Association’s executive body did not want to meet the CM as officers still on a strike. He said all PMSA officers would return to offices from Friday. The strike call had been withdrawn on the intervention of the CM otherwise it would have continued till the acceptance of demands, he said.
Nasir said about 300 PMSA officers had been victimised during the strike by DMG officers in decision making positions. The PMSA, he said, did not want the DMG officers expelled from the Punjab, it was just demanding the termination of the Moeen Qureshi formula for sharing senior jobs.
Contesting the argument that the Inter Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) formula could only be amended by the federal government with the consensus of provincial governments, Nasir said this interpretation of rules was propaganda by the DMG officers. He said the government of Balochistan had terminated the formula last October.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 01st, 2011.
The Provincial Management Services Association (PMSA) called off its strike on Thursday and got the assurance that Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif will personally listen to their grievances.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Thursday, PMSA president Rai Manzoor Nasir said that the strike had been called off after 15 days. During the strike, the president said, the PMSA officers faced the wrath of the District Management Group (DMG) in the form of registration of police cases, suspensions from service, transfers, issuance of show cause notices, threats and police raids at their residences.
Nasir denied, however, that the strike call was being withdrawn due to pressure from the government and because a large number of PMSA officers had withdrawn their support for the strike. He said, the strike had been called off considering the CM had said he would personally listen to their grievances.
He said that the Association’s executive body did not want to meet the CM as officers still on a strike. He said all PMSA officers would return to offices from Friday. The strike call had been withdrawn on the intervention of the CM otherwise it would have continued till the acceptance of demands, he said.
Nasir said about 300 PMSA officers had been victimised during the strike by DMG officers in decision making positions. The PMSA, he said, did not want the DMG officers expelled from the Punjab, it was just demanding the termination of the Moeen Qureshi formula for sharing senior jobs.
Contesting the argument that the Inter Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) formula could only be amended by the federal government with the consensus of provincial governments, Nasir said this interpretation of rules was propaganda by the DMG officers. He said the government of Balochistan had terminated the formula last October.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 01st, 2011.