HYDERABAD: Employees of Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) are made to run from pillar to post for six months’ withheld salaries, pension and other service benefits as the provincial government has not yet released the funds for the purpose it had committed earlier.

The Mazdoor Union (CBA) of Hyderabad Devel­opment Authority attributes a number of deaths in the poor employees’ families to the financial straits caused by the stoppage of remunerations.

The Sindh government, according to Wasa sources, had for the first time set aside funds for the payment of water and sewerage charges in provincial budget for 2023-24 but the funds had not been released yet to clear the agency’s liabilities from January 2023 to June 2023. The agency owed Rs700m to the provincial government departments but it would be transferred at source to Wasa as per budgetary allocations, said the sources.

A summary for Rs1,096.869m was pending approval with the Sindh government for the payment of liabilities including salaries, commutations and pensions of employees. It was floated by then LG secretary Najam Shah and was forwarded to him by then Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Fuad Soomro, who was given additional charge of Hyderabad Development Authority’s director general in 2022.

Summary of over Rs1.096bn pending approval of Sindh govt for long

Mr Soomro had referred to Wasa managing director’s May 22 letter, which had mentioned Sindh High Court Hyderabad circuit bench’s order regarding payment of salaries and dues to Wasa employees. Later, a committee head­ed by Chief Secretary was also formed for resolving the issue.

According to the document, another summary was sent in March 2023 to seek a special grant of Rs649.85m for the payment of liabilities and service benefits after which an amount of Rs317.245m was released by the finance department in May 2023 to clear dues accumulated till Dec 2022. Rs317.245m were released and utilised accordingly, said LG secretary’s summary.

The outgoing chief minister had agreed to the finance department’s proposal for incorporating sewerage charges in 2023-24 budget and that the Wasa would not ask for any bailout after 2022-23.

“Wasa’s total liabilities by the end of 2022-23 stand at Rs1,801.882m out of which Rs1,096.869m is payable towa­rds salary, pension and service benefits till June 2023,” read the summary, calling for release of Rs1,096.869m required to clear employees’ liabilities till June 2023.

Wasa workers’ miseries

“We are suffering badly and are resorting to strike but nobody appears to be listening to our cries,” said CBA union general secretary Insaf Lashari.

He said that a teenage girl of a work-charge employee, Majid Shah, died of illness in the absence of proper medical care.

Another employee, Qasim Halepoto alias Qasim Baba, who had also been a work-charge employee since 2007, died recently. “Qasim Baba lived in Tando Yousuf pumping station where his death was reported,” Lashari said and added that a driver of HDA was suffering from cancer and surgeons had advised amputation of his leg.

The CBA at a recent meeting resolved to adopt extreme measures if the workers’ liabilities were not cleared and urged caretaker chief minister to release the funds required for clearing the dues.

It said the CBA had planned to shut down filtration plant on Sept 11 but it postponed it after intervention of Hyderabad mayor Kashif Shoro but workers’ problems remained unresolved even after passage of one week.

Subsidy ended three decades ago

According to Wasa’s director finance, Mohsin Jafri, while the Sindh government discontinued subsidy for Wasa three decades back, the Punjab government continued to provide the grant to its five Wasas of Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore.

The Hyderabad Wasa had lately increased water and sewerage tariffs by 20pc and 80pc, respectively, to overcome its financial woes in the absence of subsidy.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2023