HYDERABAD, April 18: The provincial president, National Labour Federation, Rana Mehmood Ali Khan, has lashed out at the secretary, Labour, Sindh, for withholding the marriage fund already released by the federal government.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, he said that the Sindh Workers Welfare Board had received an amount of Rs54 million for distribution among the workers for the marriages of their daughters at the rate of Rs30,000 per worker in the year 2001.

However, he said, due to red-tapism, this amount could not be distributed although the workers had submitted their applications in January 2001.

Mr Khan said that excluding Karachi this amount was to be distributed among 1,800 workers of interior Sindh including Hyderabad.

He said that due to this delay, the distribution of marriage fund for the year 2002-2003 has also been delayed, depriving the workers of their genuine rights.

The NLF leader alleged that the secretary, Labour, Sindh, who is also the chairman of the governing body, Sindh Workers Welfare Board, was repeatedly informed about the inordinate delay in the distribution of marriage funds but all in vain.