PESHAWAR, Jan 29: Livestock employees working in Fata have threatened to move court if the government didn’t give them the service structure.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, All Fata Veterinary Association (AFVA) president Mohammad Bashir said more than 500 veterinary assistants had been doing duties at public sector animal caretaker farms and centres in Fata but the government was least bothered to regularise their services.

He said while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had promoted veterinary workers, their counterparts in Fata had neither been given promotion nor were they paid any allowances despite raising the issue time and again. Mr Bashir said veterinary assistants from the settled areas and Fata had got training together at the same institute. He said the veterinary workers were also hard pressed working in violence-hit tribal areas.

Flanked by the association’s general secretary Niaz Mohammad Afridi and other veterinary assistants, Mr Bashir alleged officials at the directorate of livestock and dairy development Fata were using delaying tactics in their promotion.

He also expressed concern over the collection of tax on cattle in Fata and demanded its immediate withdrawal. Mr Bashir also demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar to intervene into the matter and provide them justice.