Police fire tear gas at protesting government employees in Islamabad

Islamabad Police on Wednesday fired tear gas at protesting government employees when they were heading towards the Parliament House located on the Constitution Avenue.

The federal government employees are demanding a raise in their salaries and had gathered today after their leader Rehman Bajwa and nine others were arrested overnight.

Following the arrests, the government workers in the federal capital had announced they will march towards the Parliament House from Pakistan Secretariat for their demands and the release of their leaders.

The police had resorted to tear gas shelling after they made a move towards the Parliament. The protesters at one point had also encircled Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz.

The protesting employees also closed the doors to the secretariat bringing the government machinery to a halt.

At least two dozen protesting employees were taken into custody under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO).

The government employees were protesting against the income disparities between various federal government employees. They have been demanding a 40% increase in their salaries.

The protesters have received support from government employees over grade 17, who have also demanded an increase in their salaries.

The All Pakistan Clerks Association and government employees of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh are also supporting the protest.

Protestors went back on agreement: Sheikh Rasheed

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, told Geo News, that the government dealt with the protesters correctly and they had given back on the agreement.

“We dealt with this correctly we are increasing the salaries of 95% of employees at an average of 40%,” the minister told Geo News when asked about the situation.

Rasheed blamed the protestors for going back on the agreement they had made with the government. He claimed that the government had agreed to increase the salaries of the government employees posted till the rank of grade 16.

“They included 5% of the officers at the last minute we had also invited the media that notification will be issued and took it to the cabinet. We spoke to them till grade 16,” the minister told Geo News.

Rasheed said that when the government was issuing the notification last night then the protesters demanded that the salaries of employees till grade 22 should be increased. He added that if the government increases the salaries of officers from grade 17 till 22 then it will cost the exchequer billions.

The interior minister also claimed that the protestors have the support of the officers. He also refused to the demand of increasing the salaries of provincial officers, clarifying that it was not in the domain of the federal government.

“The matter will be resolved [if] they go back to their initial demands,” said the interior minister. He also added that the government had arrested the employees under Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order Act.

Finance ministry working on increase in salaries: sources

Sources told Geo News that the two-member committee, comprising interior and defence ministers, tasked with dealing with the protestors is in contact with the finance ministry over the raise.

Officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say that the committee has recommended that there should be an increase of 25% in the salaries of officers in grade 1-16 on an ad hoc basis.

They also have said that the finance ministry may finalise the increase by tonight or tomorrow and send it to the prime minister and adviser on finance for approval.

The sources say that Sheikh Rasheed and Pervez Khattak are pushing for the increase so an immediate relief could be provided to protesters and the situation gets under control as the federal government was not functional.