LAHORE/ SAHIWAL: The college teachers from across Punjab on Monday held a protest on The Mall, Lahore, and blocked it for five hours, demanding seat ‘adjustments and upgrade’ of 450 of their colleagues of the badge of 2012 recently promoted from BPS-17 to 18.

Hundreds of male and female college teachers gathered and staged a sit-in in front of the HED secretary’s office also at Anarkali. The province-wide protest call was given by the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA).

As a result of the protest, a six-member committee was formed representing three members each from the Higher Education Department (HED) and the PPLA to resolve 450 college teachers’ ‘dislocation’ (transfer) happening under new e-transfer policy.

The protesters chanted slogans against the HED secretary and the Punjab government, demanding delinking promotion policy from newly introduced e-transfer policy and linking their promotion with seat adjustment and upgrade in the same college. Carrying banners and panaflexes, they were chanting slogans against, what they termed, unprofessional handling of service matters of the college teachers. The professors and lecturers threatened to escalate their protests to a sit-in in each district by boycotting classes if their demands were not met.

HED forms committee to look into the matter

Addressing the protesters, PPLA President Faiza Raana criticised the HED, accusing it of ignoring the teaching community.

PPLA general secretary Mahboob Arif said the new e-transfer policy failed to address the issues of promotions, seat adjustments and the formula for upgradation. He pointed out that more than 6,000 posts of different grades were vacant, questioning why promoted teachers were going to be dislocated (transferred) and not adjusted against vacant positions in the same colleges.

After five hours’ protest, the HED special secretary called the PPLA delegation for negotiations that continued for two hours. As a result of the talks, a six member committee was formed having members- additional secretary (Establishment), deputy secretary (EM), additional DPI Colleges from the HED and Faiza Raana, Mahboob Arif and Hasan Rasheed from the PPLA.

This correspondent learnt from sources that the HED had extended the e-transfer date at the portal and linked it with the final outcome of negotiations held by the committee.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2024