SAHIWAL: Employees of the All Punjab Water Management Employees Association (APWMEA), Sahiwal division, held a procession to demand regularisation of more than 18,000 employees working in the Agriculture Water Management Department across the province.

The procession started from the Sahiwal Press Club and culminated in front of the commissioner’s office.

Carrying placards and banners, the protesters were chanting slogans against the chief minister. They said the employees had been waiting for regularisation for the last 12 years.

Organisation’s senior vice president Abdul Gaffar blamed Agriculture Minister Dr Farrukh Javed and previous agriculture ministers for an undue delay in regularisation of contract employees. ​

APWMEA Okara secretary general Muhammad Zeeshan told Dawn all the contract water management employees, working with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan, had been regularised but that was not done in Punjab.

Contract employees are reportedly working in different categories for the last 18 years as engineer, sub-engineer, computer operator and other categories. Other activists, including Gaffar and Hafiz Naseer also spoke.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Employees of the Agriculture Water Management Department from all the four districts of the division held a demonstration to demand their regularisation.

They also took out a procession which included participants from Layyah, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur besides Dera Ghazi Khan.

The procession started from office of the Water Management Department and ended in front of commissioner office where the rally turned into a procession. The office-bearers of the APWMEA addressed the protesters.

President of the association, Ghulam Yaseen, told Dawn the future of 1,841 contract employees of DG Khan division was at stake as their contracts would end in June 2017. He made an appeal to the Punjab chief minister to regularise the contract employees.

Later, the leaders of the demonstrators presented a memorandum of demands to Commissioner Mohammad Yasrub.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2016