MARDAN, Feb 20: About 200 teachers of the district took out a procession in protest against the newly introduced recruitment policy, saying the provincial government ignored them in the process.

They marched along the roads and bazaars in Mardan and reached the press club where they held a public meeting to express their resentment at the new recruitment policy.

The procession was led by Younis Bilal, president of the trained teachers association. Younis while addressing the gathering criticized the newly introduced policy of recruiting the teachers in the government schools.

He said that following the new policy, the education department recruited untrained teachers, which deprived them of their rights, he complained. He said that if the demands were not accepted they would start agitation for the acceptance of their demands.

A teacher, Mustajab Khan, threatened that if their demands were not accepted then he will set himself on fire in protest, in the main city market. Later, other teachers said that Mustajab's threat was his person and individual decision and has nothing to do with the teachers' agitation programme.

BIRD FLU: Frontier province Minister for Food, Excise and Taxation Fazal Rabbani advocate has alleged that the Jews propagated rumours about the spread of bird flu virus causing damage to the flourishing poultry industry of Pakistan.

Speaking at a big gathering here at Samar Killey, Mardan, Mr Rabbani claimed that not even a single case of the bird flue virus was found in the country but the Jews used this propaganda through international media to hit our poultry industry.

He said it was a conspiracy of certain forces just to possess the poultry market in Afghanistan and deprive Pakistan of foreign exchange. Fazal Rabbani urged the people not to give any attention to such negative propaganda against the poultry industry and consume poultry eggs and meat without any fear.