LAHORE: Annoyed businessmen of Mall Road on Friday attacked the Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) workers blockading the road at Charing Cross for over 12 days now.
Traders Association members attacked PLRA workers with batons and pelted the protesters with corncobs and other trash items from roadside dumpsters.
The confrontation turned violent when traders asked the protesters to end the blockade. Police reached the scene but couldn’t restore order for some time.
The agitating traders dispersed the protesting PLRA workers and cleared the road for traffic.
“These protesters are destroying our business as the road is blocked every other day,” said trader Naeem Mir.
“Protests on Mall are illegal and traders will not allow them any longer as they are impacting our already dormant businesses,” he added.
On the other hand, the protesting PLRA workers said that staging peaceful protest is their constitutional right.
The protesters, who were holding a sit-in at Charing Cross, were demanding the establishment of a proper service structure and an increase in their salaries. As a result of the protest, over 152 Arazi Record Centres (ARC) across the province have been shut down, rendering the land authority virtually dysfunctional.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, the officials of the land authority voiced their grievances against the administration and the provincial government.
“The administration seems to ignore the fact that it was our tireless efforts that led to the establishment of PLRA in the first place. We were the ones who had earlier worked at the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Land Record Information System (LRIS), which was later transformed into PLRA,” a protesting employee said.
In January, PLRA employees went on strike after the administration failed to meet their demands.
“That strike was called off when Punjab Revenue Minister Colonel (r) Anwar Khan assured the employees that a service structure would be set up within three months,” an ARC official said, adding that the government failed to fulfil its promise, leading to the employees rising up for their rights once again
