The employees of 38 Punjab government departments holding a sit-in in front of the Punjab Civil Secretariat have intensified their protest by stopping work and locking their offices to press the government to accept their demand for a raise at par with other parts of the country.
The call for the strike was given by the All Government Employees Alliance.
As the sit-in continued for the sixth day on Saturday with no indication of the protest ending, the citizens have not only been unable to get their work done from the government offices but have also faced prolonged traffic blocks.
Residents of the city had to endure hot weather and exhaustion on the roads and streets due to traffic congestion caused by the sit-in. They faced severe difficulties in reaching their offices, homes and business centres.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami announced their support for the protest. Lahore PPP president Aslam Gill joined the workers' sit-in. He said on the occasion that he had gone to the protest venue on the instructions of party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The demand of hundreds of thousands of government employees of Punjab is justified, he said, urging that they should be accepted. “We will fully support government employees across Punjab,” he added. Local leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami also visited the protesting employees.
The Punjab additional chief secretary met the employees' leaders on behalf of the provincial government, but the contentious issues remained unresolved. The strike has affected people across the province as the work in the government offices has stopped.
In the provincial capital, traffic on the Mall Road, Lower Mall, Chaubarji, Ferozepur Road, Lake Road, AG Office, Jail Road, Data Sahib, Bhatti Chowk, Lohari, Islampura, Sant Nagar, Bilalganj, Urdu Bazaar Road, Old Anarkali, Nila Gumbad, Jain Mandir and adjoining areas was disrupted due to the sit-in.
People had to walk for long distances in scorching heat as operators of public transport, including rickshaws, refused to ply them on the roads.
The public servants have formed the All Government Employees Alliance to press the provincial authorities to accept their demands.
Addressing the participants of the sit-in, the leaders of the protesters said the Punjab government should increase the salaries of its employees at par with the federal government and other provinces.
They also demanded immediate withdrawal of a notification amending the leave encashment policy.
All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) Lahore division president Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmed Gujjar said inflation in Pakistan was at its peak. However, the rulers were not reducing their expenses, but oppressing the government employees, he added.
He said not increasing salaries judiciously was tantamount to economic murder, demanding that the Punjab government increase the salaries and other facilities of its employees like the federal government.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 16th, 2023.
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