Samarbagh residents protest excessive power cuts.

LOWER DIR -- The residents of Samarbagh tehsil here on Saturday staged a protest rally against excessive electricity outages and shortage of staff at the Nadra and BISP offices.

The protesters blocked the main Shahi Road for some time and chanted slogans against the government for its failure to meet their demands.

Samarbagh tehsil chairman Saeed Ahmad, Haji Rehman, Hameed Khan and others addressed the rally.

Mr Ahmad threatened that people would lock the BISP and Nadra offices if the required staff was not deputed there.

The other speakers regretted that the poor people, including women, were being humiliated as they had to stand in long queues for hours for receiving a 10-kilogram flour bag, which was also of substandard quality.

The speakers said the government had failed to control the profiteering and hoarding in Ramazan, making it difficult for the poor to make both ends meet. They said prices of fruits and vegetables had gone beyond the purchasing power of common people.

The speakers complained the residents of...