DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Dozens of employees of the tehsil municipal administration, including sanitation workers and other staff members, staged a protest sit-in outside the residence of TMO Hanif Khan Chughata on Friday, complaining about the non-payment of salaries for the last five months.

Holding placards, they shouted slogans against the TMA administration.

The protesters claimed they hadn`t been paid salaries for the last five months, leaving their families in financial distress.

`We are working tirelessly to keep the city clean, but we, along with our families, are suffering due to the non-payment of salaries,` said a sanitation worker.

He said despite receiving billions in grants, the TMA had failed to release salaries to workers.

The employees alleged that the TMO released salaries and pensions to a select group.

`This [denial of salary] is not just negligence; this is deliberate injustice,` another protester said.

He said the protesters won`t go away until they received the withheld salaries.

The protesters warned that if their demands were not met, the protest would intensify and they would approach higher authorities for redressal.

Sources claim that a significant portion of TMA`s funds were spent on the recent cultural festival Dera Jaat Mela in the city.