Hyderabad employees, RO plant operatorsprotest delayed salaries

Staff demand payment of pending wages and regularisation, stage hunger strike

HYDERABAD:

Employees appointed to various lower-grade positions in the Hyderabad Education Department in 2023 continued their protest for the 14th consecutive day on Monday at the Hyderabad Press Club, demanding the release of their pending salaries for the past 28 months. The demonstrators also staged a hunger strike and raised slogans demanding timely payment.

Protest leaders Gulab Rand, Asad Mall, Syed Moazzam Ali Shah, and others said that in 2021, the Education Department advertised multiple lower-grade posts, and after completing all legal procedures, 669 candidates were offered positions in 2023 across different schools. However, despite the passage of 28 months, salaries have not been disbursed, causing severe financial hardship for the employees. They emphasised that the protest will continue until salaries are paid.

Separately, under the banner of the Sindh RO Plant Operators Association, RO plant employees staged a protest at the Press Club, led by Liaquat Chandio, Imdad Sand, and Yaqub Shoro. They highlighted that staff appointed in 2012 under the Public Health Engineering Department continue to work at RO plants but are being paid only Rs25,000 per month, well below the Sindh government's approved minimum wage of Rs40,000.

The protesters demanded that their jobs be regularised and salaries increased to the legally mandated minimum of Rs40,000 per month. They also appealed to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to ensure the implementation of these measures, calling the current situation "an economic injustice to the poor."