Islamabad Feb 28 (TNS): Protesting daily-wagers of the Federal Directorate of Education on Wednesday staged a sit-in on the main Kashmir Highway, disrupting traffic on the main thoroughfare for hours.
The road blockade created an awkward situation for motorist and commuters, who struggled to drive through alleys and link roads to reach their destination while police failed to remove the protesting daily-wage teaching and non-teaching staff, who have been demanding the release of their withheld salaries and job regularization.
The protesting staffers alleged that the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has failed to meet their demands as their protest entered the 55-day.
On Wednesday, the protesters blocked the Kashmir Highway and chanted slogans against the CAAD administration. The protesters said that the CADD has failed to fulfill their demands and they warned to hold a demonstration outside the Prime House if their salaries were not released and their jobs not regularized. The protesters claimed that the CAAD has not made payment of the withheld salaries besides failing to regularize their services.
Over 3,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of various schools and colleges of Islamabad have been staging the protest demanding regularization of jobs without appearing in the test, which the CADD says, was mandatory for confirmation of their jobs. The CADD also announced to give 5 grace marks to the daily wagers if they appear in the test, however, the protesting staffers are reluctant to undergo any screening, claiming even if they appear in the test, the FDE and CADD officials will influence the process of transparency. They alleged that the some of the FDE and CADD senior staff earlier got their loved ones hired without test despite the fact highly qualified teachers had been rendering their service for the last many years.
Internal maneuvering in the FDE and CADD, nepotism and favoritism and corruption in the education sector has been taking a toll on the students while half of the teaching staffers were on the roads for the last over 50 days despite the fact that exams are around the corner.
