FAISALABAD, April 15: The routine functioning in various government departments, local bodies, tehsil and union councils has come to a standstill as the entire machinery and resources have been diverted to the referendum campaign.

A survey conducted by this correspondent on Monday revealed work had temporarily been suspended in the tehsil offices in Saddar, Chak Jhumra and district government and local offices of education and health.

The employees were found planning to attend the president’s rally in other districts.

While the low-paid employees of the Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA), Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), Housing and Town Planning and other government departments had abandoned the routine work, visitors to these institutions faced a great difficulty.

The visitors complained the government was resorting to negative tactics to assemble people. They insisted the government employees should not be forced to attend the rally nor should the management impound the vehicles.

In many offices, attendance remained thin as heads of various departments announced Monday a holiday in lieu of Sunday.

A source told this correspondent that many employees had gone on leaves by presenting medical certificates to avoid attending meetings.

DBA: Over 200 members of the District Bar Association (DBA) termed the referendum ‘unconstitutional’ and urged the chief justice to take action against the rulers.