Vets stage rally in Rawalpindi
Cause traffic jam on Benazir Bhutto Road
Cause traffic jam on Benazir Bhutto Road. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
Veterinary doctors and para-veterinary staff on Wednesday took out a rally before staging a sit-in outside the Rawalpindi Press Club to protest against what they claimed was the Punjab government’s refusal to provide them with their promised risk allowance.
The veterinarians and para-vet staff gathered at the office of District Livestock in Shamsabad before marching towards the press club at around 2pm in the afternoon.
The rally was headed by Dr Waheed Sajid, president of the Veterinary Doctors Association of Rawalpindi (VDAR). He was accompanied by Javaid Akhtar Satti, president of the Punjab Para-Veterinary Staff.
The protestors were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the provincial government. The rally also caused a massive traffic jam on the Benazir Bhutto Road since most of the offices during Ramazan end early.
Addressing the protesters, anger veterinarians said that they had been protesting against their maltreatment and the inaction of the Punjab government towards granting their legal demands.
The vets want payment of their pending monthly risk allowance which had been approved by the government in 2014.
The allowance was supposed to be paid to the vets since they come into contact with animals which could possibly lead to infection of deadly diseases such as the Congo virus.
The veterinarians further complained that they have not taken Sunday as their weekly off day since last year. Moreover, their department had not allowed them to avail long vacations.
The livestock department, the vets said, had also stopped offering LPR to the employees who were nearing their retirement.
The para-veterinary staff cried that the Punjab government was not promoting them, nor were they revising their pay scales.
The employees of the livestock department claimed that the government had been forcing them to sell animal fodder which had been prepared by a particular private company.
They further claimed that the government had directed them to sell fodder and salt-water prepared by the company.
A senior veterinary doctor told The Express Tribune that the government had resorted to storing fodder in veterinary hospitals and clinics.
He added that in the open market, the price of fodder was Rs1,300 for a 37-kilogramme sack while the government was providing a 20 kg sack of fodder at a price of Rs620.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2017.
Veterinary doctors and para-veterinary staff on Wednesday took out a rally before staging a sit-in outside the Rawalpindi Press Club to protest against what they claimed was the Punjab government’s refusal to provide them with their promised risk allowance.
The veterinarians and para-vet staff gathered at the office of District Livestock in Shamsabad before marching towards the press club at around 2pm in the afternoon.
The rally was headed by Dr Waheed Sajid, president of the Veterinary Doctors Association of Rawalpindi (VDAR). He was accompanied by Javaid Akhtar Satti, president of the Punjab Para-Veterinary Staff.
The protestors were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the provincial government. The rally also caused a massive traffic jam on the Benazir Bhutto Road since most of the offices during Ramazan end early.
Addressing the protesters, anger veterinarians said that they had been protesting against their maltreatment and the inaction of the Punjab government towards granting their legal demands.
The vets want payment of their pending monthly risk allowance which had been approved by the government in 2014.
The allowance was supposed to be paid to the vets since they come into contact with animals which could possibly lead to infection of deadly diseases such as the Congo virus.
The veterinarians further complained that they have not taken Sunday as their weekly off day since last year. Moreover, their department had not allowed them to avail long vacations.
The livestock department, the vets said, had also stopped offering LPR to the employees who were nearing their retirement.
The para-veterinary staff cried that the Punjab government was not promoting them, nor were they revising their pay scales.
The employees of the livestock department claimed that the government had been forcing them to sell animal fodder which had been prepared by a particular private company.
They further claimed that the government had directed them to sell fodder and salt-water prepared by the company.
A senior veterinary doctor told The Express Tribune that the government had resorted to storing fodder in veterinary hospitals and clinics.
He added that in the open market, the price of fodder was Rs1,300 for a 37-kilogramme sack while the government was providing a 20 kg sack of fodder at a price of Rs620.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2017.