LAHORE: The Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), Punjab, leaders have condemned the death of a Suthra Punjab sanitation worker, who set himself on fire, calling it the price of `wage theft’ carried out under the Punjab government’s flagship banner.

In a joint statement on Saturday, TTAP Punjab chief organiser Ammar Ali Jan and information secretary Shayan Bashir said the worker, Zeeshan, had gone to the office to complain against a contractor who, by officials’ own admission, had been illegally deducting a major share of workers’ Rs21,000 monthly salary.

They stated that Suthra Punjab workers in Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Okara and Sargodha had protested against unpaid low wages for months and added that the death was preceded by warnings, which the government chose not to ignore.

They demanded criminal proceedings against the contractor, an independent payroll audit of every Suthra Punjab contractor, direct payment of wages to workers, and immediate compensation for the bereaved family. “A programme that cleans streets on stolen wages, cannot call itself clean,” Mr Jan said.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026