RATODERO: On the call of the All Sindh Shah Lateef Local Government Employees Federation, employees of Municipal Committee, Ratodero and Naundero took out rallies separately. Protesters staged a sit-in for acceptance of their demands in front of the local press club. The Ratodero rally was led by provincial General Secretary, Abdul Hadi Markhiyani, Wazir Ali Babar, Abdul Qadir Abro, Manzoor Ali Babar, Sono Khan, Muhammad Essa, Irfan Shah and others. In Naundero it was led by federation provincial chief, Hafiz Mushtaque Korejo and participated by Nisar Bhutto, Bashir Shaikh, Ahad Jamal, Zahid Ali, Muharram Ali and others. Holding placards protestors chanted slogans that why salaries were not paid through online system. Korejo and Markhiyani said that by paying monthly salaries to local government employees through concerned district accounts offices, 50 percent corruption would be eliminated automatically in department but it seemed that rulers were afraid of losing their kitchen expenditures that’s why they were not allowing it despite our just demand since long. They said that all provincial government servants were paid through an online system then why they were not being treated at par with others. They said inquiries were conducted against corrupt and corruption but these inquiries were being held against poor low-paid employees who were working efficiently and discharging their duties regularly. They said it should be taken into consideration that the level of poverty has reduced and so many families have been saved from starvation in this poverty era. They termed conducting of inquiry against appointments of 2012 as harassment of poverty-stricken employees of Sindh who have nothing to do with the procedures or formalities and demanded regularization of their jobs immediately and end of investigations forthwith. They said that worst affected were employees of UCs who get monthly emoluments less than a daily wager which could only be termed as discrimination. Published in Daily Times, February 8th 2018.