DADU, Jan 7: The federal minister for industries, Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi, has said that the sugarcane crisis would be settled soon and the sugar mills would have to pay the price fixed by the government to the growers otherwise stern action would be taken against them.

He said this while talking to newsmen in Mehar on Tuesday.

He said that the Dadu Sugar Mills Piaro Goth and the Shahdad Kot Textile Mills would start operating within a week.

He assured that the salaries would be paid to the officials of the excise department who had been appointed when he was the chief minister.

He admitted that the Taluka municipal committees were facing financial difficulties but the salaries would be paid to the employees of the Taluka Municipal Committee Khairpur Nathan Shah within 24 hours.

He directed the police to control the law and order situation in the district.

Later, the federal minister held a meeting with the district officers of various departments at the rest house, Mehar.

The DCO, A. Ditto Shar; the DPO, Ali Akbar Bhangwar; and the EDO, Health, Dr Khadim Hussain Lakhair, briefed the federal minister about the performance of their departments.

DEMO: Responding to the call of the Sindh National Students Front, a large number of activists of the JSQM, STP, SPSF, PPP, and PPP (SB) held a protest demonstration outside the press club on Tuesday against the detection bills and a Hesco official.

They were led by SNSF leader Abdul Ghani Babar, the JSQM district president, Maqsood Ahmed Chandio; and the STP district president, Ali Khan Korai.

Addressing the demonstrators, they said that the line superintendent of Hesco sub-division Dadu-II had demanded Rs1,000 from each consumer. When they refused to do so, he started sending them detection bills.

They regretted that the executive engineer and the SDO concerned had been informed about it but in vain.

They threatened to continue their struggle throughout the district if strict action was not taken against the official concerned.

STRIKE: The lower staff of all the offices of the revenue department, Dadu district, boycotted their work on Tuesday in protest against the kidnapping of the district officer, Revenue, Pervez Ahmed Junejo, who was kidnapped five days back by a gang of dacoits.

They demanded that the revenue official be recovered immediately.