Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: Data entry operators hired on a contract basis for Nadra and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offices at the Torkham border have hinted at going on strike if their five-month salaries were not released.
An employee told The News on the condition of anonymity that they have not got salaries for the last five months. He said they were being told that their salaries were not released due unavailability of funds allocated for the contractual employees.
He said they have been performing 12 hours long duty at the Torkham border.
“We are coming to the offices every day while some of us also perform duties at Torkham border crossing, but the government officials are not releasing the arrears,” he added.
He said that 11 employees were deployed in Torkham Nadra offices while 41 others performed duty at the Torkham offices of FIA and all of them await their salaries.
He said they travel 15 to 20 kilometres from their homes to reach their duty station at Torkham, for which they spend Rs500 fare a day.
The employee said they have not even been given any compensating amount for their travel and lunch, on which they are spending from their own pockets.
He said most of them were poor people, who borrowed money to buy food for their families. He said that if their salaries were not released in a week, they would go on strike.
He said they register the data of thousands of passengers who daily cross the Torkham border, which could be disturbed if the FIA employees go on strike.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Mehmood Aslam Wazir said he was in contact with the finance department to resolve the issue of salaries and hopefully the salaries would be released within a week.
