DADU, March 22: A large number of employees of the National Programme for Improvement of Watercourses (NPIW) took out a rally on Thursday in protest against non-regularisation of their services. This is in addition to token hunger strike they are observing for last 26 days.

Leaders of the NPIW Association Rizwan Soomro, Ayaz Lashari and Murtaza Babar led the rally which culminated outside the press club.

The government had launched the NPIW in 2004 to make agriculture stronger as it was the backbone of the economy, Rizwan Soomro said.

The government inducted 1,200 engineers on three years contract while in offer orders the Provision of Sindh Servant Act 1973 was mentioned according to which their services were to be regularised after three years, he said.

A summary, in this regard was also sent to the Sindh government in 2008 but they were not given the status of permanent employees even after the passage of seven years forcing employees to come on roads.

There’s unrest among the NPIW employees who are protesting since long and have sent their demands to President also, another leader Ayaz Lashari said.

Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Shah had in October last persuaded the employees to call off their strike on job regularisation promise which as yet not fulfilled, he said.

Employees are on token hunger strike for last 26 days, not only in Dadu but at many places in Sindh while the NPIW employees of other provinces have already been regularised, he said.

He appealed to the President, Sindh Chief Minister, Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Shah and MNA Ms Faryal Talpur to issue orders for regularisation of their services.