PESHAWAR: Employees of the Workers Welfare Board, Peshawar, on Wednesday began a pendown strike to press the government for regularisation of the services of contractual employees, cancelation of illegal appointments, and end to interference in their organisation`s affairs.

The strike has been organised under the aegis of the WWB Employees Union, which claims though the federal government had banned fresh appointments to the board, the current WWB secretary, Naimatullah Gandapur, had been appointing people to the organisation at the behest of a high-up of the provincial government.

The protesters told Dawn that an inhabitant of Nowshera, who was a gardener at a private ghee mills, was appointed the board member, while another man, whose services as BPS-14 instructor were terminated, had been made assistant director in the board.

One of the union officebearers said Bannu bench of the Peshawar High Court had restrained the WWB secretary from performing all administrative work.

He said few days ago, another bench of the high court rejected the secretary`s application and asked him not to perform any administrative functions but the secretary continued to flour the court orders.

The union`s office-bearer said if their demands were not fulfilled, employees would set up protest camps outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and Peshawar Press Club and later outside PTI Chairman Imran Khan`s mansion in Bani Gala (Islamabad).

He said he didn`t know why the PTI chairman had turned a blind eye to the poor state of affairs at the WWB especially when he had repeatedly promised to free all government institutionsin the province of corruption and irregularities.