RAWALPINDI, Aug 12: Members of the All Pakistan PTCL Daily Wagers Association on Tuesday staged a sit-in here in front of Lal Haveli to press the government for regularization of their jobs.

They asked Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and information minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed to fulfil their promise regarding regularization of their jobs which both had made during their Shamsabad public meeting.

More than 200 daily wagers of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) participated in the set-in.

The participants were holding banners and placards inscribed with demands asking PM Jamali and Mr Rashid to direct the PTCL chairman to regularize their jobs.

They said both the PML-Q leaders had promised to regularize their jobs. However, despite a passage of more than nine months, they said, they had yet to hear any good news from the government in this regard.

The demonstrators also fastened black ribbons round their arms and said they would observe the Independence Day as ‘black day’.

The demonstrators also raised slogans against the PTCL chairman and held him responsible for their miseries.

Office bearers of the association, Shahid Mehmood, Tariq Abbasi, Habibur Rehman, Chaudhry Imran Aziz and Mohammad Naeem said like that of Wapda, National Bank and education sector, the daily wagers in the PTCL, whose number was more than 8,500 throughout the country, must be regularized.

The demonstration which started at 10:30am continued till 12:30pm. The participants insisted on meeting the information minister. However, as Mr Ahmed was not available, his nephew, Shaikh Rashid Shafique, met the association leaders.

He also assured them of every possible help on behalf of his uncle (Mr Ahmed) and said the demands of the workers were just and would soon be redressed.

The demonstrators said they would again hold demonstration at the same spot on Wednesday and continue it till their demands were met.