KHAR: The workers of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Programme in Bajaur Agency on Friday complained of non-payment of their salaries for the past eight months and threatened to launch a protest demonstration if the salaries weren`t released within a week.

Talking to mediapersons here, representatives of MNCH Workers Association, including its president Mohammad Khan and general secretary Ziaur Rahman, said that over 60 workers, including women, of differentareas ofthe agencyhad beenasso-ciated with MNCH as community mobilisiers since March 2016.

They said that almost all workers had been worl(ing in far-flung areas of the agency, but they had not been paid their salaries on time since their appointment.

They said that they were not paid their salaries for the past eight months, causing serious financial problems for them.

They said that theyhad brought theissue into the notice ofsenior ofncials of the programme, but in vain.

They flayed the high-ups of the programme for not fulfilling their promises about provision of various incentives made during the training workshops held in Peshawar in January 2016.They pointed out that the officials had assured them of extending financial grant so that the workers could establish private clinics in their respective areas besides giving them essential medicines and emergency kit s.

The health workers claimed that empty kits had been provided to them a few days ago, as no medicines and others things were present in them.

They criticised the ofhcials giving them a meagre salary of only Rs4,000 per month.

They threatened organisng a hunger strike camp outside the MNCH office in Khar if they were not paid their salaries before Eidul Azha.