Ludhiana, Dec. 11 -- The Municipal Corporation Employees' Union on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the residence of mayor Inderjit Kaur, beating drums and clapping to draw attention to what they described as the state government's "indifference" towards long-pending demands of civic workers. The protest was led by union chairman Naresh Dhingan.

Speaking at the gathering, Dhingan said that although the Punjab government had regularised sanitation workers and sewermen nearly three years ago, a large number of employees were left out of the process. According to him, over 800 workers, including several Class-IV employees such as drivers and beldars, continue to work on temporary terms because they were declared "overage" or exclude...