LAHORE: Dozens of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) meter readers on Tuesday staged a sit-in outside the company’s head office on Kashmir Road against the management for not raising their salaries and depriving them of the medical and other allowances since long.

They chanted slogans against the SNGPL management for turning a deaf ear to their demands, and threatening them for raising the issue.

“Some of the employees have been working for the last many years on daily-wage basis, but no one even bothered to give them medical allowance,” deplored a protester.

The protesters warned they would stage a sit-in in front of the Governor House or the Punjab Assembly along with their families if their demands were not accepted.

On the other hand, the SNGPL management rejected the protesters’ stance, saying the protesting workers were not, in fact, direct employees of the company.

“They are our indirect employees, as we have outsourced our meter reading wing to a private company, which is dealing with them,” an SNGPL spokesman told Dawn.

He said under the law, the daily wagers are not entitled to any kind of allowances. “We have already told them (employees) that they are not eligible for such privileges,” he maintained.

COMMISSIONER: Lahore Commissioner Zaid bin Maqsood on Tuesday said the Punjab chief minister’s top priorities include cleanliness, price control and elimination of encroachments.

Therefore, he said, the DCs must take timely measures to give goods results in this regard. Presiding over a meeting, he said scanning of 134 out of 142 Mouzas in Lahore has been completed. He said eight Mouzas of Lahore have been notified.

He said 31,000 complaints have so far been received on the price-control app, of which 21,000 have been remedied, ordering strict action against violators.

LWMC: The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) claims to have disposed of more than 40,000 tons of garbage and cleared from 600 open heaps and plots across the city.

The cleaning operation teams also removed debris from the roads and ensure that all pedestrian bridges along the Canal Road are kept clean.

CEO Babar Sahib Din reviewed sanitation arrangements in key areas, including Thokar Chowk, Raiwind Road, Bhubtian Chowk, Adda Plot, and Pine Avenue.

He also inspected areas such as the Canal Road, Allama Iqbal Road and Garhi Shahu, issuing orders for special sanitation activities on service lanes.

Furthermore, he assessed the sanitation conditions around Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, and Doctors’ Hospital.

The LWMC CEO emphasised that negligence in maintaining cleanliness in Lahore would not be tolerated and urged officers to be present in the field to guarantee 100pc attendance of workers.

He encouraged the people to support the LWMC teams in keeping their surroundings clean and reminded them to contact the company’s helpline 1139 or use social media for immediate resolution of their complaints.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024