(PPLA) all up in arms against the Punjab Government for non-payment

LAHORE Professors and non-teaching staff from the Board of Governor (BoG)-managed Public sector colleges in Lahore on Wednesday were all up in arms against the Punjab Government for non-payment of October 2011 salary before Eid-ul-Azha in time through the Accountant General Punjab (AGP).Instead of paying the October 2011 salary through the AGP, the Punjab government handed salary cheques to the professors and other staff on November 2 (Wednesday) to the utter disappointment of the staff.Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) President Dr Zahid Ahmed Sheikh told APP the professors could not get salaries before Eid-ul-Azha as 3 days were required for clearing of a cross cheque by banks.He said the salaries could not be transferred to their accounts for Saturday and Sunday being weekly holidays which meant the professors from the BoGcolleges would spend the Eid without salary. He said the professors were paid the pre-budget formula salary as the AGP had not included the 15 percent raise announced in the recent budget on the pretext that the Punjab government had not allocated any funds for the purpose.Lamenting the fact, he attributed the mismanagement to the overall bad governance of the Punjab government, stressing Punjab government should withdraw its decision of the constitution of Board of Governors (BoGs).”How could the government expect professors to be peaceful when they were not being paid and denied basic constitutional rights by the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif”, he asserted.A female professor from Govt Islamia College, Cooper Road, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Punjab government wanted to punish professors for their opposition of the Punjab government’s ill conceived decision and raising voice for their genuine rights.She said the professors were being victimised by the AGP at the behest of the Punjab government as they were asked to submit manual salary bills for October 2011 salary despite an earlier commitment of the government under coercion. Meanwhile, the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) also held a protest rally at MAO College to demonstrate against non-payment of salaries and raise voice for the acceptance of their long-standing demands regarding time-scale promotion.APP. </