HYDERABAD, June 10: The Faran Sugar Mills Labour Union has threatened to close the mill down on Wednesday (today) to pressure its management to restore services of 426 illegally sacked employees.

It pointed out that the National Industrial Relations Commission had suspended the operation of a mill notice, published in a newspaper on April 18, terminating services of 426 permanent employees of the mills.

Speaking at a news conference at the local press club on Tuesday, the general secretary of the union, Abdul Karim Mangwani, accused the mill management of adopting unfair labour practices.

He said that the mill management had illegally terminated the services of 426 permanent employees and the labour department had also issued notice to the mill management declaring the termination of the employees as illegal.

He, however, regretted that the labour department had not only failed to implement its orders but also failed to take legal action against the management.

The labour leader alleged that the mill management continued to harass the workers, some of whom were also forced to tender their resignations.

Mr Mangwani said that the workers were also being pressured to vacate their residential quarters in the workers colony by June 15 and about 100 armed people were deployed in the factory.

He said that the union filed a case of unfair labour practices against the mill management with the NIRC, Karachi bench, a member of which, Mr Ali Nawaz A. Channa, on June 9 suspended the operation of impugned notice published in a newspaper, terminating the services of 426 employees.

He said that the mill management had increased the pressure on the workers and refused to abide by the decision of the commission.

He said that it was a judicial decision and therefore it was the duty of the district Nazim and the DPO, Hyderabad, and the taluka Nazim, Tando Mohammad Khan, to prevail upon the mill management to honour the judgment and reinstate 426 workers.

LUMHS: The controller of examinations, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, on Tuesday announced the results of the first professional MBBS (part-I) annual examinations of 2003 of LUMHS, Chandka Medical College Larkana, and Peoples Medical College for Girls, Nawabshah, held in February.