HYDERABAD, Nov 25: Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union leader Abdul Majeed Nizamani has proposed that electricity generation should be stabilised and tariff should be reduced to eliminate power theft.
Speaking at the Sindh workers convention of the union at the Wapda’s water wing, he said that there was no logic in dividing Wapda into different companies and appointing six chief engineers on hefty salaries.
Instead, the management should increase numerical strength of lower staff to streamline the working of the department, he said and demanded that as per promises, service structure of the employees be upgraded and ban on recruitment of Wapda employees’ children into the organisation be lifted.
He said that the Wapda employees should be provided security and hospitals should be established in every city to provide medical facilities to them.
He said that the presidential ordinance-2000, which was a black law, should be repealed. He condemned attacks on Wapda installations.
The union’s general secretary Khursheed Ahmed said that employees of power distribution companies were not responsible for loadshedding and appealed to people to stop attacking them.
He said that due to inefficiency and wrong policies of the government, the country was facing power crisis because of a huge gap between demand and supply of electricity. Mr Ahmed said that due to shortfall in electricity production, loadshedding had attained alarming proportions and the people were angry.
The enraged consumers were attacking Wapda offices and workers due to loadshedding, he said. He warned that if attacks on Wapda employees were not stopped, they would be forced to close down Wapda offices.
He demanded that law and order be restored in the country and life and property of people be protected.
He said that the country was in the grip of an unprecedented economic crisis and stressed the need for adopting austerity measures. He said that the workers supported the democratic forces and wanted to see democracy flourish in the country.
He, however, said that the political parties holding power should not forget promises they had made during general elections and added that the promises were not being fulfilled.
He said that as the prices of essential consumer items like flour, pulses and sugar had skyrocketed, 20 per cent increase in the salary of government employees had become irrelevant.
Mr Ahmed demanded that the salaries and wages be increased commensurate with the increase in the prices of essential consumer items.
The provincial general secretary of the union, Iqbal Ahmed Kaimkhani, said that the workers should be provided protective gears and security and efforts should be made to eliminate power theft. Additional general secretary of the union Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, Malik Sultan, Mehboob Ali Qureshi, Qamoos Gul Khattak, Azam Khanand others also spoke on the occasion.
A large number of workers from Sukkur, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and other districts of Sindh attended the convention.
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