Directorate sealing leaves staff on road

The Directorate of Colleges has been left without an office after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Evacuee Trust Property Board sealed the Directorate of Education Colleges at the Education Complex on Murree Road.

The entire record of 101 colleges in the division, including that of professors and employees, has also been sealed.

On Friday, the director and deputy director of colleges set up their offices by the roadside on Murree Road.

Employees and officers marked their attendance on plain paper on the road outside the sealed directorate, while the director of colleges performed official duties standing on the footpath.

The commissioner and deputy commissioner refused to provide any assistance to the college directorate, saying the matter was completely beyond their control.

Directorate employees approached the secretary higher education at 11am on Thursday after the sealing, but even after 36 hours no response had been received.

The highest authorities have also refused to restore the Directorate of Colleges, offering only two to three hours under tight police security to remove equipment.

The directorate has been given a final message that its presence at the site is now a thing of the past. Two or three rooms are being temporarily provided in a girls' or boys' college from Monday.

Meanwhile, permanent police and FIA personnel have been deployed at the sealed directorate, and education officers and employees have been barred from standing in front of its gate.

All Pakistan Clerks Association (Apca) Education Colleges president Malik Jameel Awan strongly condemned the sealing, saying Apca Rawalpindi condemned the forcible eviction of officers and employees from the building, its takeover and the seizure of government machinery and records.

He said the building had been used for the administrative affairs of the education sector for several decades, and administrative matters of 101 government colleges in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal districts of the Rawalpindi division were being handled from there.

"Important educational and administrative matters concerning thousands of employees as well as millions of students are associated with this office. Vacating and taking over such an important educational and administrative centre in this manner is highly regrettable and a cause for concern," he said.

He said the seizure of government records, computers, machinery and other office equipment could seriously affect routine government affairs and matters concerning employees and students.