Govt employees end sit-in after 12 days

The alliance threatens to restart protest after Eidul Fitr, if their demands are not accepted

QUETTA:

The protesting government employees, who demanded a 25 per cent increase in their salaries, have ended a sit-in after 12 days following the orders of the Balochistan High Court (BHC). The BHC on Friday ordered the members of Balochistan Employees and Workers Grand Alliance to end the sit-in immediately and ordered the government to hold purposeful talks with the protesting government employees and not take any action against them.

Announcing the end of the sit-in at Abdul Sattar Edhi Chowk in Quetta, the alliance’s Convener Abdul Malik Kakar said that they would restart the protest, if their demands were not met by Eidul Fitr. “The employees were forced to protest in Quetta as their demands were not met,” said Kakar, adding so far the government had not accepted their demands. The alliance’s convener termed the orders of the BHC “a victory for the employees”, saying the provincial government was bound to negotiate with the protesting employees on 18 points.

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After the end of the sit-in, the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) announced to continue the examination. In many districts of the province, the management of the first paper was affected due to the boycott of the government employees. The matriculation examinations of arts group in the morning and language paper in the evening on Friday were affected across the province. In many districts, the candidates reached the exam centres but the management had to call off the paper as the staff was not available.

Talking to The Express Tribune, BBISE Chairman Yousaf Baloch said the first paper of the matriculation examination had been affected due to the protests of teachers. A total of 77 centers in Quetta did not conduct the papers, while information from remote areas was not available yet. Yousaf said, 45 per cent of the papers were distributed in the morning shift and 60 per cent in the evening shift in Quetta, according to the estimates. The BBISE chairman further added the Urdu paper would be conducted as per schedule announced by the board. However, other examination papers were held as per schedule.