Employees lock Pakistan Secretariat as talks with govt fail

ISLAMABAD, June 9: The federal government employees on Thursday locked the entry and exit gates of the Pakistan Secretariat in protest for acceptance of their demands.
The employees decided to lock the Pakistan Secretariat after their talks with the government failed, prompting them to take some rigorous measures to press the government to agree to their demands.
Earlier, the federal government employees staged a sit-in in the finance ministry, and they negotiated with the senior finance ministry officials for five long hours, but the negotiations ended up in a failure.
It was learnt that heavy contingents of police were deployed to thwart any untoward situation in Islamabad amid continuous sloganeering by the federal government employees that had gathered in large numbers.
Work at federal ministries and other departments and divisions in the Pakistan Secretariat was stopped due to protest by the government employees. The officers and other employees at the federal government departments could not reach their offices due to closure of the entry gates of the Pakistan Secretariat.
It is to be noted here that the federal government employees have been protesting for three days for a raise in their salaries and allowances due to high inflation and for the acceptance of other demands. -DNA