ISLAMABAD, March 18: Non-teaching staff of the capital`s educational institutions, who have been protesting at D Chowk since March 6 for timescale promotions, creation of posts, and education allowances, moved their sit-in to the Supreme Court on Monday.

Sadagat Abbasi, chairman of the Joint Action Committee of the Non-Teaching Staff Association, said the shif t in location was a `last resort`, since 12 days of protests had not brought about results. `The politicians and the management of the finance division were unwilling to meet our demands,` he said, and promises from figures such as former Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had also failed to resolve the issue.

Saying that employees had been `deprived of their rights` for the past 30 years, Abbasi explained that a delegation from the protesters met a Supreme Court registrar. `We told him that the Chief Justice was our last hope, Abbasi said, `and the registrar assured us that our problems would be conveyed to him for suo motu notice.` At the Supreme Court, over 1,000 non-teaching employees, from 465 institutions, maintained the sit-in. A former Islamabad MNA, Tariq Fazal Choudhry, visited in a show of solidarity, promising to meet with `relevant bureaucrats` and arrange for notifications to be issued by 1pm on Tuesday.

Rafique Tahrir, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development, also told Dawn that he and Secretary Riffat Qazi had been meeting with officials from the finance department and the Prime Minister`s Secretariat, seeking to resolve the issue.

Because of the proximity of the protest to sensitive government buildings, and the sheer number of the protesters, officers from both the federal and Punjab police forces were summoned to provide security.

By 5pm, the protesters decided to return to D Chowk, where they will continue their sit-in until they receive notification that their demands have been met.-A Reporter