17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, July 16: The NWFP Paramedical Association will protest against what it termed the government's delaying tactics regarding the sanctioning of their service structure, says a press release.

It said the decision had been taken at a meeting of the provincial paramedical association which was held here on Wednesday under its president Sirajuddin Burki at the Lady Reading Hospital.

The meeting expressed concern over the delay in the sanctioning of their service structure and decided to hold a press conference on July 19 to announce their strategy.

It said that nothing concrete had emerged despite the formation of several committees and sub-committees, the service structure, which affected 10,000 paramedics in the NWFP and Fata.

The meeting said that the service structure was on the agenda of the provincial cabinet which met here on Tuesday, but expressed concern that it remained untouched.

It said that paramedics, along with doctors and nurses, formed an integral part of the medical profession but criticized what they termed the government's stepmotherly attitude towards them.

Criticizing the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government, they said it had disappointed them. Non-sanctioning of the service structure, it said, was affecting their performance.

KTH: The class-IV employees' association of the Khyber Teaching Hospital would stage a token strike for two days, commencing from Friday. President of the association Nasir Khan Khalil said in a press release issued here on Wednesday that they had given a charter of demands to the hospital administration a few day ago.

He alleged that the administration was harassing employees by suspending them from service. He said that the administration was unwilling to appoint the sons of deceased employees, which, he said, was their legal right.

He said that all class-IV employees would wear black arm- bands to show their frustration and if the administration failed to solve their problems then they would decide their future line of action, which might include a complete strike.