LARKANA: The QambarShahdadkot district chapters of the Primary Teachers Association (PTA) and Government Secondary Teachers Association (GSTA) on Monday organised a protest demonstration and sit-in outside the office of the deputy commissioner over his move of putting names of 1,084 teachers on data verification list.

Sindh PTA president Intizar Shalgari, district president Sikandar Virk and GSTA district president Jawad Hussain Soomro led the protest. The participants blocked the Larkana-Qambar road near railway crossing raising slogans against the move, which they termed uncalled for.

Speaking to them, the leaders argued that all teachers had been appointed after going through procedural requirements.

Deputy Commissioner Shahmeer Bhutto had lately written to the officials concerned asking them to initiate an inquiry into recruitment of 1,084 primary teachers appointed in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 by verif ying all the relevant documents, including those concerning district recruitment committee, salaries and service books.

The PTA and GSTA leaders said the purpose of such a move seemed to be spoiling the ongoing summer vacation, observing that most of the teachers had even gone outside the district and the news about the verification had certainly disturbed them.

They said the DC`s motive seemed to be pressuring the teacher community.

They said that even af ter a biometric verification already having been done, the fresh verification looked unjustified. They also criticised stopping of the salaries of hundreds of other teachers since 2016 for their absence from the biometric verification.

The protesters ended the sit-in after Qambar SDM Munawwar Abbas and Pakistan Peoples Party QambarShahdadkot district general secretary Mohammed Punhal Soomro held negotiations with their leaders and held out the assurance that their issue would be taken up with relevant authorities.