Unemployment woes: Jobless Kohistanis protest against NGOs
Wheel jam, shutter-down strike planned for Monday.
DASU:
Hundreds of jobless young Kohistanis staged a protest against Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in Kohistan District and blocked the Karakoram Highway for over four hours here on Sunday.
They claimed to have the required qualifications for jobs at many NGOs, but said they have been ignored in the hiring process. They demanded that the local administration and NGOs ensure that Kohistanis are adjusted in the 38 local, national and international NGOs that are working in the remote district.
About three weeks back, the Kohistan DCO called a meeting with all NGOs working in Kohistan, which was also attended by the PML-N MPA from Dasu, Abdul Sattar Khan, and youth representatives. The DCO asked the NGOs to adjust local youths as they were jobless and had every right to employment. The DCO also made NOCs for NGOs conditional on offering jobs to Kohistanis, which the NGO representatives promised to take up with their bosses. However, protesters claimed that the NGOs did not honour their words.
The angry young men blocked the Karakoram Highway near Dasu Bazaar at around 10am on Sunday by putting barricades in the middle of the busy road that links Pakistan with China.
They raised slogans against the district administration for its lethargic attitude and stubbornness on the part of NGOs. They said that 80% of the staff was hired from other districts of the province and even the transport used for their projects was brought from Peshawar, Swat, Islamabad and other parts of the country.
They accused the NGOs of embezzling the funding they receive from the international donors, claiming that they were practically doing nothing for the betterment of the deprived communities of Kohistan. The protesters claimed that the NGOs were not hiring educated local youths because they were scared of being exposed.
The protesters later dispersed peacefully on the request of local police and announced that they would stage another protest on Monday, where no vehicle would be allowed to pass if their demands were not met.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.
Hundreds of jobless young Kohistanis staged a protest against Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in Kohistan District and blocked the Karakoram Highway for over four hours here on Sunday.
They claimed to have the required qualifications for jobs at many NGOs, but said they have been ignored in the hiring process. They demanded that the local administration and NGOs ensure that Kohistanis are adjusted in the 38 local, national and international NGOs that are working in the remote district.
About three weeks back, the Kohistan DCO called a meeting with all NGOs working in Kohistan, which was also attended by the PML-N MPA from Dasu, Abdul Sattar Khan, and youth representatives. The DCO asked the NGOs to adjust local youths as they were jobless and had every right to employment. The DCO also made NOCs for NGOs conditional on offering jobs to Kohistanis, which the NGO representatives promised to take up with their bosses. However, protesters claimed that the NGOs did not honour their words.
The angry young men blocked the Karakoram Highway near Dasu Bazaar at around 10am on Sunday by putting barricades in the middle of the busy road that links Pakistan with China.
They raised slogans against the district administration for its lethargic attitude and stubbornness on the part of NGOs. They said that 80% of the staff was hired from other districts of the province and even the transport used for their projects was brought from Peshawar, Swat, Islamabad and other parts of the country.
They accused the NGOs of embezzling the funding they receive from the international donors, claiming that they were practically doing nothing for the betterment of the deprived communities of Kohistan. The protesters claimed that the NGOs were not hiring educated local youths because they were scared of being exposed.
The protesters later dispersed peacefully on the request of local police and announced that they would stage another protest on Monday, where no vehicle would be allowed to pass if their demands were not met.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.