KP govt servants protest at Imrans residence

Noor Aftab
Friday, November 28, 2014
From Print Edition

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ISLAMABAD: Some 400 government employees of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) riding 35

vehicles on Thursday reached the capital city to stage a protest sit-in in Bani Gala in front
of the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against nonacceptance of their demands by the provincial government.

The highly charged provincial government employees (Grade I to Grade IV) started heading
towards Bani Galausing the road near Rawal Dam but the local policemen intercepted them and
immediately blocked the road to prevent their movement further.

The employees tried to convince the policemen that they were not PTIs workers and they only
intended to record their protest in front of the residence of the PTI chief but they failed to get
permission and ultimately they started chanting slogans Go Imran Go and Go Khattak Go.

When the policemen and the employees were holding talks, all other roads leading towards Bani
Gala also got blocked due to which traffic snarls were seen in the area.It is pertinent to mention
here that when KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak visited Peshawar Islamia College University
on November 13, the employees also chanted slogans against him and Imran Khan and the police
had to intervene to avert a clash on the occasion.

The employees of Peshawar University were also accompanying the other protesting employees
as they were demanding regularisation of their contracts and raise in salaries in line with the
increase announced by the government in the budget.

When contacted, KP government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani said the provincial government had
formed a committee headed by the chief secretary to review cases of all the employees and make
recommendations in this respect.

The committee would complete its work within one month and then it would present its
proposals to the provincial cabinet. The cabinet would give final approval after which all the
issues of the employees would be resolved in line with the recommendations of the committee,
he said.

He said the KP government was fully committed to resolve the issues of the government
employees because it was its policy to provide maximum relief in terms of promotions and raise
in salaries in line with rules and procedures.

The police officials who were dealing with these employees told this correspondent that all these
people were riding motor vehicles due to which they could not be allowed to reach the residence
of Imran Khan as it might pose security threat to him.

We have to keep in mind all the aspects and security of the PTI chief is one of the major factors
due to which these protesters cannot be allowed to go to Bani Gala without proper inspection,
they said.