LAHORE, Dec 1: More than 5,000 union council secretaries in Punjab have not been paid salaries for the past two months due to withholding of release of financial assistance by the provincial local government department.

Stating this here on Monday, All-Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation Secretary-General Qari Taj Muhammad said the UC secretaries were paid their salaries from the financial assistance provided by the local government department every month.

They had not been paid salaries for October and November because the department did not provide funds to their councils.

He appealed to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to order release of financial assistance to the union councils for the past two months so that they could be paid salaries.

The secretaries were among the low-paid government employees and would not able to celebrate Eidul Azha in case the monthly installments of financial assistance were not released immediately.