Restoration of pension for retired teachers demanded

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Retired teachers and employees of Peshawar Public School and College (PPSC) have asked Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to restore their pensions in order to avoid begging in their old age.

As a month and a half ago, they were deprived of pensions without any reason, due to which the teachers and non-teaching staff were forced to starve, said Ex-Principal of Peshawar Muhammad Jameel Khan while speaking at a news conference on Tuesday at Peshawar press club.

“If no one least, our own students passed out from our school including Dr Haider Ali, Shahram Tarakai, Mahmud Khan and Shakeel Khan influentials and ministers in the provincial assembly, may listen to our cries”, he appealed. Flanked by other retired teachers and employees, he said they were passing through worst critical conditions as their livelihood and medicines depend on the meager amount of pension and now they are moving from pillar to post.

About previous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, he informed it (govt) had stopped release grant to PPSC in 2000 but unfortunately the incumbent government led-by Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf in the province halted pensions of its employees, which was a sheer injustice to them.

The former principal said, they had rendered many sacrifices for the institution as they raised it from a small school to a top level educational institution across the province but the government gave them reward in shape of compelling them for begging. “Most of my retired colleagues including myself run short of money even for our medicine”, he said with choked voice and added they could not do any other job in this old age.

Peshawar Public School and College is one of the best education institutions in the province, has passed out its thousands students serving in the country and abroad on important position, which credit goes all the retired and present teaching staff.

The stoppage of the pension, he said would cast a dual negative impact on the institution, on one hand, the services of the retired employees would be discredited while on the other hand, the decision of the Board of Governors (BoGs) of the school regarding stoppage of pensions, would discourage the serving employees.

Responding to a query, Mr Khan said, he and his colleagues many times tried to contact the Provincial Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan and Secretary Education in this regard but to no avail.

They, therefore, demanded of the Provincial Minister for Education to take notice of their issue and resolve it forthwith, otherwise, they would be compelled to stage a sit-in in front of the Chief of Pakistan Tehrik-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan’s residence (Banigala) in Islamabad, and also outside KP provincial assembly while as a last option to move the court.