FAISALABAD, May 31: Scores of employees of the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad on Wednesday observed a complete strike and staged a demonstration against retrenchment plan and converting the AARI into a corporate institution.

Refusing to work, employees from grade 1 to 18 gathered in front of the main gate. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands.

They marched through area roads and chanted slogans against what they called privatisation of their institution. They claimed that a particular group in the Agricultural department had hatched a conspiracy for their personal financial gains at the cost of jobs of the poor employees.

Employees announced that they would launch a massive protest campaign if the government failed to withdraw the drafted retrenchment plan and conversion of the prestigious institution into a private one.