LARKANA, July 16: A group of the local Apca activists observed a token hunger strike here on Tuesday against the proposed plan of sending the lower staff to surplus pool.

Each protester hung a loaf of bread on his chest to symbolically express the fear that by being sent to the surplus pool, they were going to be sacked which may lead their families to starvation.

Talking to newsmen, Sabir Soomro, president, All Pakistan Clerks Association, Larkana, Larkana, criticized the lukewarm attitude of the administration towards their problem.

They demanded of the government to accept their demands till July 20, warning otherwise they would broaden spectrum of their protest.

Those who observed the hunger strike included Sabir Soomro, Peeral Dayo, Liaquat Ali Bhatti, Anwer Ali Joyo, Farid Ahmed Abbasi and Safdar Mughal.

DROWN: A six-year old boy, Mukhtiar, and his five-year old sister, Shakila, drowned in a ditch dug by a brick kiln owner in Tayyeb village near Ratodero on Tuesday.

While playing the children slipped into the ditch used in the process of brick manufacturing.

As the children remained away from their home for too long, their parents conducted a search for them and found their bodies in the ditch.