PCS officers to go on strike from 19th

By Our Staff Reporter


LAHORE, July 15: Disappointed with the ‘lukewarm’ response of a special committee, the PCS Officers Association on Thursday declared negotiations with it a total failure and announced an indefinite strike from Monday (July 19) if the chief minister does not listen to it in the meantime.
“The talks have failed because of the attitude of the committee,” said association President Rai Manzoor Nasir at the Punjab Assembly, where negotiations were held.

The committee was formed by the chief minister under Sirdar Zulfiqar Khosa to listen to PCS officers and submit a report.

According to Mr Nasir, PCS officers’ representatives objected to the presence of DMG officers in the committee, saying they were party to the case and their inclusion would hamper outcome of the talks. He said he was not satisfied with Khosa’s plea that DMG officers were included in the committee to assist him. He said Khosa listened to only one point of the 12-point list of the association and that too in a hurry.The meeting concluded in just 30 minutes and Khosa did not concede to the association’s demand that PCS officers should immediately be posted at all vacant seats for them.

He said his team was disappointed when Mr Khosa said the committee would again call them after 15 days. He said a lack of seriousness on the part of the committee to redress their grievances was evident from the absence of its members like Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, Senator Pervaiz Rashid and the provincial advocate general from the meeting.

He expressed his dissatisfaction at the proceedings of the meeting and said the association postponed its strike after the chief minister’s office promised to listen to its point of view in a day or two.

“The mood of the committee indicates that it will never submit its report to the chief minister. Therefore, all provincial service officers are gathering at the Civil Secretariat to start their indefinite strike from Monday if the chief minister does not call us in the meantime,” he said.

http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.a...7_2010_003_001