HYDERABAD, Sept 3: Employees of the Right Bank Outfall Drain project, Jamshoro district have called off the protest against non-regularisation of their services and non-payment of salaries in deference to Ramazan.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Wednesday, Ali Hyder Shah, Anwar Manganhar and other leaders of the Jamshoro RBOD Employees Action Committee said that they had served in the RBOD for five years but their services had not been regularised while authorities were constantly harassing them.

They alleged that their salaries at times were withheld for six months and released only when they resort to protests and hunger strikes. They said the Superintending Engineer Altaf Soomro, Executive Engineer Mohammad Yousuf Memon and SDO Khalid Nawaz Dahar assured regularising of their services along with an increase of 15 per cent in salaries when they went on indefinite hunger strike last Ramzan. The promises had not been honoured till date, said Action Committee leaders.

Instead of regularising their services, the bureaucracy was conspiring to make fresh appointments of their favourites as well as on political recommendations, they said. They said absentee employees of the project were getting salaries while those reporting to duty every day were denied wages.

They appealed to the president, prime minister, Sindh chief minister and irrigation minister to regularise their services and ensure payment of withheld salaries.