Protest: Regularisation of services demanded

Contractual employees of the Mangla Dam Resettlement Organisation staged a sit-in in front of their office complex.

MIRPUR: Contractual employees of the Mangla Dam Resettlement Organisation (MDRO) staged a sit-in in front of their office complex on Thursday to press the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government to regularise their services. Holding placards and banners bearing slogans in support of their demands, the employees earlier staged pen-down strike by boycotting their duties. They also demanded early payment of their salaries withheld for the past many months. When contacted, a senior official of MDRO’s administrative wing, who requested anonymity, said 29 employees had been recruited on contract and since the Mangla Dam raising project was completed, their services were being terminated. The MDRO official said Wapda had not released funds for the salaries.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2011.