Civic body workers demand pending salaries

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 15

MC workers from Bathinda and Ferozepur districts staged a protest in front of the civic body office here on Saturday. The protesters, including retired workers, said the state government had not fulfilled their long-pending demands.

They demanded pending salaries and pension. Besides, they said DA instalments and medical bills had been lying outstanding for the past many years.

Apart from this, they demanded that municipal corporations, councils and panchayats should get funds on time. The protesters added that the old-pension system should be implemented again.

On the occasion, they started marching towards Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s office, but police personnel stopped them at Hanuman Chowk.

The protesters told the police that they would stage a peaceful protest outside the Finance Minister’s office, but they were not allowed to march ahead.

Irked over it, the protesters started raising slogans and sat on a dharna on the GT Road, leading to traffic jams. Due to the protest, the road remained blocked for around 30 minutes, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Later, Congress leaders Arun Wadhawan and Ashok Kumar reached the spot and pacified the protesters. After sometime, the MC workers ended their protest.