QUETTA, Pakistan – Government employees in Pakistan’s Balochistan province have escalated their protests, demanding the implementation of the Disparity Reduction Allowance (DRA) and other long-pending benefits. Members of the Balochistan Employees Grand Alliance (BEGA) took to the streets in Quetta and Khuzdar, staging rallies that highlighted deep frustrations with provincial authorities.
In Quetta, demonstrators marched from Bacha Khan Chowk to the City Police Station, where they staged a sit-in and raised slogans against the government. Tensions rose as authorities failed to respond, leading to heightened agitation. Local reports indicate that 11 participants voluntarily surrendered to police, underscoring their resolve.
Similar fervor gripped Khuzdar, led by alliance leaders including district president Aslam Notani, APCA Kalat Division chairman Manzoor Naushad, and others. Crowds from various departments gathered, voicing anger over delays in addressing their grievances. The protests disrupted routine operations, drawing attention to systemic neglect in the region.
This surge follows earlier actions, such as the Unemployed Pharmacists Action Committee (UPAC)’s condemnation on January 22 of a government announcement offering scant positions to over 2,000 jobless pharmacists. Described as ‘a grain of sesame in a camel’s mouth,’ the move was slammed as inadequate.
At a Quetta Press Club briefing, UPAC Secretary General Qasim Aziz Mengal demanded more vacancies, transparent merit-based hiring, and an end to favoritism in BPS-17 roles via walk-in interviews. He criticized the health department’s lack of meritocracy and spotlighted the absence of pharmacy departments in private hospitals, along with recent contract-based hiring ads for doctors and pharmacists.
Just days earlier, on January 20, police halted a sit-in in Quetta’s Red Zone over DRA demands, arresting dozens and suspending mobile internet services. Containers blocked key routes, but employees converged at the Press Club, only to face dispersal and detentions. The standoff paralyzed government offices as workers from across Balochistan flooded the capital.
These events signal mounting discontent among public servants, who argue that unfulfilled promises exacerbate economic hardships in one of Pakistan’s most underdeveloped provinces. As protests intensify, pressure mounts on authorities to negotiate and deliver relief, or risk broader unrest.
