Female teachers also take to streets for seven months’ unpaid salaries

CHITRAL: Like the Negahbans of the forest and wildlife departments, scores of women teachers belonging to the Basic Community Schools in Chitral on Monday held a protest demonstration outside the DC Office here against non-payment of their salaries for seven months.
Addressing the protesters, Aftab Jabeen and Shazia Sultana said they have been teaching in the community schools for the last about 20 teachers and their students are now graduating from different universities. But unfortunately, they said, the teachers are still working on contract and not being paid their monthly salaries. It is a shame that these women are compelled now to take to the streets for their rights.
They said before coming to power, Prime Minister Imran Khan had expressed sympathy with the teachers and promised to resolve their issues but now community based teachers across the country are forced to stage a sit-in in Chitral but they are not being given any importance.
They said the teachers were hired in 1999 on the paltry salary of Rs1,000 and since then neither their services are being regularized nor the salaries being increased in proportional to the inflation. Even the salaries are not being paid to them on time.
The protesters waited for hours for MPA Moulana Hidayatur Rehman who had promised to meet them and listen to tehir grievances but he never turned up.–Muhkam Uddin