Denial of pay raise, allowance: FBR officers announce pen-down strike.

LAHORE -- The All Pakistan FBR employees have announced a pen-down strike all over the country on Friday (tomorrow) to highlight their demand for a pay raise and increase in fuel allowance.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the FBR employees including assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners said they had presented a charter of demands to the federal government for its sympathetic consideration. They would extend the scope of the protest if their demands remained unmet, they said. They said they had already informed the FBR chairman about their grievances.

They said the government had announced a pay raise and increase in various allowances for the employees of the IB, the FIA and other institutions in the recent budget but the incentives had been denied to the FBR workforce despite the fact that they were on the government agenda. 'This is sheer discrimination with the employees who work day in and day out to collect revenue and contribute to national progress,' said the press release.

It's ironic that the FBR employees who played a vital role in country's economic growth were themselves deprived of a...