KHAR: The employees of USAID-funded maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programme in Bajaur Agency on Monday expressed concern over non-payment of salaries for past 13 months and threatened to launch a protest movement if payments were not made by March 30.

Addressing a press conference at Bajaur Press Club, representatives of MNCH workers association, including president Mohammad Khan, general secretary Mohammad Yousaf and others, said more than 60 workers among them women of different backward areas of the agency had been associated with MNCH as community mobilisers since March 2016.

They said the workers were committed to their jobs despite working in remote and far-flung areas, but deplored that they had not been paid on time since their appointments. They claimed that they had not been paid their salaries since Feb 2017, causing serious financial problems for them as they had no other source of income.

They pointed out that senior officials of the programme at the Fata secretariat and Bajaur Agency had promised them in Nov 2017 to release their salaries by the end of that year, but to no avail.

They also complained about not getting any financial grant for their private clinics and other incentives.

They demanded of the senior officials of MNCH and USAID to order immediate release of their withheld salaries.

RESTAURANT OWNERS ARRESTED: The political administration arrested scores of restaurant owners for selling substandard and unhygienic food items during a crackdown in the medicine market adjacent to the agency headquarters hospital, Khar.

An official said the action was taken on the complaints of locals that the restaurants were serving unhygienic foods.

He said at least 20 restaurant owners were arrested during the raids led by Khar political tehsildar Najam Khan. The official said some of the detained persons were freed later after payment of fines and assurance that they would serve quality foods to guests.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2018