THIS is about financial and social plight of 5,000 families of Balochistan. In 2010, for the first time in the history of the provoince, some 5,000 promising young men and women were given contract jobs as teachers by a joint venture of the federal and the Balochistan government through the historic Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package. It was done with an objective to overhaul the education system of the province.

The young blood, upon getting the opportunity, left no stone unturned to ameliorate the poor educational sector. But, I regret to say, they are themselves now suffering severely as a result of the financial burdens inflicted upon them by authorities.

Although these teachers are dutiful and punctilious, they are no more motivated because being appointed in BPS 14 and 16, they are even paid a salary less than a BPS 4 employee, i.e., Rs15,000.

Furthermore, they are denied the annual pay raises, the 2011 revised pay scale amount and conveyance allowance which are paid to all other contractual employees of both the federal and the Balochistan government.

When the Huqooq Teachers Association (HTA), a platform of these young teachers, approached the authorities concerned, they put the issue in abeyance due to the two actors involved, i.e., the federal and the Balochistan government. These multifarious challenges have led the 5,000 families to a state of penury and hopelessness. The prime minister should regularise the services of these teachers.

KHAYAL MUHAMMAD Quetta