LAHORE: Farmers and employees of Punjab Rural Support Programme lodged separate protests at Faisal Chowk on The Mall on Wednesday to press the government for acceptance of their demands.

The protests, which lasted for several hours, caused inconvenience to motorists.

A large number of doctors and paramedical staff of PRSP gathered on The Mall against the expected lay-offs. They demanded confirmation of 802 doctors and 5,500 paramedical staff. Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Mahmoodur Rasheed also joined the protest and blamed the provincial government for anti-worker policies.

Around 200 farmers from all parts of the province also gathered on The Mall on the call of Kissan Ittehad to record their protest against power tariff and high fertiliser prices.

PPP leader Manzoor Wattoo, who joined the protest, alleged the government was implementing anti-farmer policies as it not only imposed a ban on wheat export but was also providing expensive electricity to farmers.

In a late night development, an agreement was reached between the PRSP protesters and the provincial health department.

According to the agreement, a summary requesting one-year continuity of PRSP will be forwarded for approval, if approved the present advertisement about new induction will be suspended, preference will be given to current employees.