Teachers protest cut in pension, gratuity, other benefits

LAHORE: Hundreds of government employees, including school and college teachers staged a protest demonstration in front of the Punjab Civil Secretariat here Thursday, criticising the provincial government for reduction in pension, gratuity and leave encashment.

Organised by the All Government Employees Grand Alliance Punjab (AGEGA), the demo was led by Ch Mukhtar Gujjar, Chairman AGEGA Lahore Division. Addressing the demonstration, Khalid Javed Singhera, Chairman AGEGA Punjab, Ziaullah Niazi, and others said the government had committed economic massacre of millions of teachers and employees of Punjab by issuing notifications for reduction in pension, gratuity and leave encashment.

They observed that the rulers increased their benefits nine times, but instead of giving anything to teachers and employees, they were also reducing the benefits they have already received by 50 percent.

They added teachers and employees were the backbone of the development of the province of Punjab but they were being exploited economically. The speakers also said that due to these notifications, teachers and employees would be forced to beg after retirement. They demanded the government withdraw these notifications immediately; otherwise, teachers and employees across Punjab would stage sit-ins on the highways, they warned. The demo caused severe traffic mess on the Lower Mall, The Mall and many adjacent roads for quite some time.