- Advertisement -
PESHAWAR, Jan 08 (APP):Employees of the Capital Metropolitan Government (CMG) Peshawar staged another protest on Thursday over persistent delays in the payment of salaries and pensions, prompting the administration to release approximately Rs45 million for staff in Grades 1 to 7 from the city’s local revenue funds.
The protest was organized under the banner of the United Municipal Workers Union and took place outside the office of the Director General, CMG Peshawar. Workers said they had once again been deprived of their monthly salaries and pensions, a situation they described as recurring and unacceptable.
Following the demonstration, the administration hurriedly released Rs45 million out of the reported Rs120 million generated monthly as local income. However, union leaders questioned the whereabouts and utilization of the remaining Rs75 million, demanding a complete and transparent account of local funds.
Addressing the protesters, Chairman of the United Municipal Workers Union (CMG and All Tehsils Peshawar) Malik Muhammad Naveed Awan, along with General Secretary Syed Waqar Ali Shah, President Ismail Khan, Finance Secretary Khawaja Aftab, and other union representatives including Saqib Khan Khalil, Farooq Khan, Saleh Muhammad, Suhail Aziz, Jameel Khan and Azmat Toofan, strongly criticized the administration’s handling of finances.
Union leaders alleged that the CMG administration routinely forces employees to protest every month to secure grants from the provincial government, despite the institution earning around Rs120 million per month in local revenue.
They claimed that instead of prioritizing salaries and pensions, a significant portion of these funds is allegedly disbursed to local contractors through quotations, accompanied by heavy commissions.
“When we ask for details and records of local funds, we are repeatedly given excuses and sent away,” union leaders said, terming the situation “condemnable” and indicative of serious financial irregularities. “It is clear that something is being concealed.”
The union issued an ultimatum, demanding that the CMG administration present a complete account of the past one year’s local revenue, amounting to Rs120 million per month, within three days. Failure to do so, they warned, would lead to a series of escalated protests.
According to the announcement, the next phase will include sit-ins for one day each outside the offices of the Director of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Anti-Corruption Establishment, followed by a final, decisive protest in front of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly.
The CMG administration had not issued a formal response to the union’s allegations by the time this report was filed.