Unpaid teachers plan to demonstrate protest on Eid-ul-Adha

Despite the government’s announcement, the teachers employed at the District Keamari Education Department have not been paid their June and July salaries before Eid. The teachers have thus, decided to approach the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Sindh High Court.

According to the provincial order, more than 700 teachers working in 89 schools of Keamari and Baldia Town which are under the administration of the District Keamari Education Department, were supposed to get advance salary before Eid as per the provincial government order. However, the teachers say that they have not been paid for the past two months. It is unfair to withhold the salaries of the teachers of on the pretext of some ghost teachers.

They have registered complaints with the Secretary Local Government Department and other concerned officers. However, no solution has been found. According to a notification issued by the Sindh government on April 12, Iqbal Imtiaz Phulpoto, a Grade 18 officer working as Director Tax in DMC Keamari, was appointed acting Municipal Commissioner, as per the order of the Supreme Court.

Junior officers cannot be posted on OPS, while municipal commissioners are still receiving their salaries from West District. In this regard, the teachers of Keamari had also staged a protest on July 7, after which a protest is being planned again on Eid. Teachers say that if their salaries were not released, they would demonstrate protest on Eid. “We had been teaching students during the Covid-19 and also guided the students via online teaching activities”.

However, the provincial government is not serious to release salaries of the teachers. Meanwhile, Muzammil Shah, convener of All Sindh Local Government Education Employees Association and Syed Zulfiqar Shah, central chairman of All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation said that teachers and non-teaching staffers of the Keamari Education Department would stage protest on Eid-ul-Adha for their salaries for June and July.

Expressing concerns they said that the salaries of teachers should be paid on time as teachers and nonteaching staffers are in dire need on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha.