Teachers rally against unpaid salaries

Balochistan University staff await four-month unsettled dues

QUETTA:

Teachers of Balochistan University on Tuesday took to the streets to lodge their protest against the non-payment of salaries and dues for the past four month as the financial crisis deepens with each passing day in the university.

Led by Professor Kaleemullah Bareech and Nazeer Lehri of the Academic Staff Association, the teachers marched from the university premises to the bustling main Hockey Chowk.

“We want justice and an immediate payment of our salaries as well as end the financial crisis in the university on permanent basis,” Professor Bareech said.

They voiced their concern over the government’s failure to address the financial crisis in the university and its impact on university employees.

Clutching placards emblazoned with demands for justice, they chanted slogans against the university administration and provincial as well as federal government for their neglect.

They accused the past and present provincial governments of ignoring the education sector completely, lamenting that there was no clear-cut education policy.

The demonstration marks another chapter in their struggle, just a month after a noisy protest outside the Balochistan Assembly.

The teachers’ persistent outcry speaks volumes about their dire situation, undeterred by previous disappointments.

Blocked roads meant citizens grappled with the consequences, their daily routines disrupted by the standoff between the educators and the authorities. “I have been here for the last two hours to pick children from school”, Muhammad Tanveer, a primary school teacher lamented. He said the blockade of roads was the order of the day in Quetta.

The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, finds himself under mounting pressure.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2024.