PESHAWAR, March 7: The Awami National Party has expressed concern over the downsizing drive in the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and urged the government to restore the services of sacked employees to save them from starvation.

In a press statement, ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan expressed anguish over the retrenchment of nearly 6,000 employees of the bank, and vowed that he would raise the issue in the Senate.

He also urged President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to order reinstatement of the sacked employees and save their families from miseries.

Mr Khan said that the people were already under the burden of heavy prices of the essential commodities, and the ongoing retrenchment drive would further add to the unemployment rate in the province.

Calling the sacking of the ZTBL employees an unjust act, the ANP leader said that perks and privileges of ministers, parliamentarians, parliamentary secretaries and army officers were being raised now and then, but the poor people were being deprived of their jobs.