07 January 2005	Friday	25 Ziqa'ad 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 6: Muttahida Labour Federation has expressed concern over the raise in the salaries of the ministers and has termed it reflective of the government's apathy towards the labourers in the country , said a press release issued here on Thursday.

It said that the government was much concerned about ministers, while the poor people were struggling to find two square meals for their families. The rulers, it said, were making all out efforts to economically destroy the working class of the country and win support of the ministers and parliamentarians through doling out of public money.

The wave of unemployment, corruption, nepotism, terrorism, lawlessness and high prices of oil and other items of daily use, were the indicators that how the poor people were being crushed by the ruling class, said the press release.

The ministers were getting Rs 46,000 per month, while the salary of a labourer was hardly Rs 2,500 per month. The situation is going from bad to worse and the people were committing suicides owing to their troublesome lives, it said.