LARKANA, Dec 3: The in-charges of 80 Utility Stores of Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts on Wednesday joined 46 store assistants who were protesting against their termination.

The protesters led by Athar Soomro, Imran Sangi and Riaz Leghari demonstrated at the main gate of Jinnah Bagh, staged a sit-in and burnt tyres on the road. Later, they also demonstrated outside the press club.

Talking to journalists, Athar Soomro termed the termination unilateral and said that the assistants were working in the stores for the six to eight years. Instead of regularising them the present government had appointed a new lot on contract basis after sacking the old ones on Nov 30, he said.

He feared the government would also fire 80 in-charges and replace them with others. He warned they would not hand over keys of the stores to the high-ups till the reinstatement of terminated employees.

The protestors appealed to the government to reinstate the sacked employees otherwise they would commit self-immolation on Dec 27 outside the mausoleum of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto.

Farooq Shiakh, regional manager of Utility Stores, said that the 30 assistants were terminated after their contracts expired. They were working purely on temporary basis, he added.

He said that the head office had appointed 50 new assistants on contract basis who had already joined while the temporary workers had been relieved of their services in accordance with their contract.

He denied having information about closure of 80 stores and participation of in-charges in the protest but added that two area managers of Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot had been asked to initiate inquiry into the reports.