All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union (C.B.A) on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration against the privatisation of state-owned electricity provider companies. The protesters demanded provision of cheap electricity to common man and industries through hydel and coal-fired power plants, which cost only Rs 1.50 and Rs 7 per unit, respectively, in comparison to high priced furnace oil thermal power plants, costing Rs 18 to 30 per unit.
Hundreds of workers, along with representatives of Association of Engineers, participated in the protest. The protesters were holding banners and chanted slogans against the privatisation of government-owned electricity companies. Leading the demonstration, General Secretary of the CBA Union, Khurshid Ahmed, demanded that the control of the electricity distribution companies should be transferred to either Wapda or Pepco, instead of handing them over to the private members of the boards.
They said that the earlier privatisation of the electricity provider companies in Multan and Rawalpindi had completely failed and further privatisation would give rise to inter-provincial disputes.
They urged the government to learn lesson from the bitter experience of privatisation of Karachi Electric as despite receiving cheap electricity of 650megawatts daily and billions of rupees as subsidy from the government, it was not running its own thermal power plants to overcome load-shedding and high cost of electricity. They warned that they would be compelled to launch country- wide protest and observe protest on February 6, if the government did not hold meaningful talks with the employees' union.