SAHIWAL, Nov 4: Local lawyers on Monday observed a strike to reiterate their longstanding demand of establishing a high court bench in Sahiwal division.

The strike was observed on the call of Sahiwal District Bar Association. More than 3,000 litigants suffered as no lawyer appeared in any court of the district.

DBA President Muhammad Husain Sagla told Dawn the bar would continue its struggle for the creation of a high court bench here.

“Sahwial bar will also support lawyers’ struggle in Punjab where representatives of five divisional bars are demanding creation of high court benches in their respective areas of the province,” he further said.

He said the Sahiwal bar would on Tuesday (today) attend a lawyers convention in Gujranwala division to press for their demand of creating five high court benches in Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha and Faisalabad.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Sahiwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Chaudhry Arshad Husain demanded the shifting of Social Security Directorate from Okara district to Sahiwal.

He defended his demand, saying Sahiwal being the divisional headquarters lacked a divisional office of social security department, and that a lot of industrial and other labourers were working in Sahiwal division.

He raised the demand while meeting with provincial Minister for Labour and Human Resources Raja Ashfaq Pervaiz and provincial Minister for Ushr and Zakat Malik Nadeem Kamran.

Husain stressed there was more industrial labour force in Sahiwal than Okara.

“There is no need of having the Social Security Directorate in Okara and it must be shifted to the divisional headquarters,” he argued with the ministers.

Dawn learnt from sources the Punjab government lacked funds for developing the directorate in the newly-established Sahiwal division. It is in this background the chamber is demanding shifting of the directorate from Okara to Sahiwal.

It is interesting to note there is no social security hospital in Sahiwal that has more than 37,000 industrial labour in cottage industries and two small industrial estates.

The chamber had been demanding a 30-bed social security hospital in the small industrial estates for one year. Former chamber president Chaudhry Zahid had succeeded in having a social security dispensary established in an estate.