PARACHINAR: Employees of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) staged a protest against their dismissal from service on Monday.
Gathering outside the Parachinar Press Club, the protesters said that they had been working on a temporary basis for the past 21 years but had now been deprived even of this temporary job.
They appealed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi and the Local Government secretary for justice. The protesting workers said that members of the Christian community had been living in the area since before the creation of Pakistan and had been serving as sanitary workers.
They alleged that despite not receiving salaries for the past five years, they continued performing their duties, but had now been removed without any justification and replaced by people from other communities.
The protesters demanded intervention from the chief minister, chief secretary Local Government and other concerned authorities.They said the Christian community had been residing in Parachinar since the British era and had been providing sanitation services to the municipal committee.When contacted, Tehsil Chairman Agha Muzammil Hussain said that the employees would be re-engaged on daily wages as the number of workers was high while resources were limited.
