Thousands of Wapda workers observed Protest Day on Thursday against the proposed privatisation of power distribution companies and nine national thermal powerhouses of Pepco across the country. A spokesman of Pakistan Wapda hydroelectric central labour union said the electricity workers took out large processions in Gujranwala, Gujrat, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbotabad, Quetta, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Guddu, Muzagffargarh, Multan, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Larkana, Rawalpindi and other big cities in support of their demands.
In Lahore, hundreds of Wapda/Pepco workers took out a procession from Bakhtiar Labour Hall on Nisbat road to Lahore Press Club and ended their rally in front of the Punjab Assembly carrying banners against the privatisation of the national utility. The workers chanted slogans "down with IMF, World Bank and down with privatisation and long live workers unity and Pakistan".
Veteran labour leader and Secretary General of the Union Khurshid Ahmad accompanied by labour representatives Zahid Hussain Shah, Malik Noor Muhammad, Sajjad Shah, Sajid Kazmi, Usama Tariq, Rana Muhammad Akram and others led the procession. Addressing the rally Khurshid Ahmad said the government should learn from the bad experiences of privatisation of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) which had not been paying its electricity dues of more than Rs 60 billion for years to Wapda/Pepco despite getting 700 MW electricity daily from the national grid. The new management of KESC has also not improved the distribution system in Karachi, he added.
Khurshid said the government should not disturb the well-established national electricity network of Pepco and keep the nine national thermal power houses in the public sector. The labour leaders also criticised the high cost of electricity for the consumers created by the rental powerhouses and independent power producers. They demanded of the government to give priority to the hydel power projects to provide cheap electricity to the domestic, industrial and commercial consumers.
Meanwhile, Wapda Hydro-Electrical Central Labour Union took out processions, rallies in Multan and across the country on Thursday in protest against the proposed privatisation of distribution and generation companies of Pepco, appointment of non-professionals as Chief Executives and withdrawal of facility of free electricity for the employees alleging that the step would cause exceptionally high tariff. They also observed the complete pen-down strike, while Mepco Engineers Welfare Association (MEWA) also joined the strike.
The rally began from Bakhtiar memorial hall, Shah Rukn-i-Alam colony and ended at Mepco Head Quarter. Rallies were also held in Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta. Addressing the rally, union leaders Engr. Rao Zia-ur-rehman President, Khawaja Aurangzeb, General Secretary of MEWA, Ghulam Rasul Gujjar, Regional Secretary Malik Saeed Ahme, Zonal Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Khalid, Pakistan Workers Federation South Punjab's Secretary General Sajjad Ahmed Baloch said the government policies based on IMF's dictates had robbed the power sector of its economic benefits.