Closure of public office entrance sparks protests

Pensioners, teachers injured using temporary staircase after main gate sealed

RAWALPINDI:

The main entrance of the century-old three-storey District Accounts Office adjacent to District Courts Rawalpindi has been sealed by project authorities after being declared a security risk under the overhead bridge and underpass project.

The 128-year-old main gate of the district courts was also to be closed on similar grounds, but lawyers resisted the move and managed to keep it open. However, the district accounts office administration, being government employees, could not protest.

Authorities have ordered a new access route, under which visitors must first enter through the courts and then use a newly installed open-air staircase at the rear of the accounts office.

A temporary iron staircase has been installed, which is difficult to use, particularly for elderly pensioners, women pensioners and female staff. Two elderly women pensioners suffered fractures after slipping while climbing the stairs.

The district accounts office handles salaries and pensions for 38,000 pensioners and 65,000 government employees, with around 1,000 visitors daily, including teachers and staff from various departments.

Education Pensioners Association Secretary General Shafiq Bhallwal strongly condemned the closure, questioning how government employees could be considered a security risk. He demanded immediate restoration of access and removal of the staircase system.

Teachers' leaders Basharat Iqbal Raja and Akhiyan Gul said the office has existed for over a century without any incident and termed the move unjustified.

They warned that the dangerous staircase could become fatal and demanded provision of a proper entrance.

District and divisional administrations expressed inability regarding the closure. Employees' unions, pensioners' associations and the All Pakistan Clerks Association have announced protests and demanded reconsideration of the decision, warning they would resist like lawyers who safeguarded their own access routes.