KESC claims 1,000 workers have accepted VSS

As the tussle between the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) management and protesting workers continues, the power company on Wednesday claimed that over 1,000 of its workers have accepted the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). In a statement issued on Wednesday, it was stated that the positive response to the final VSS was gaining momentum as over 1,000 non-core employees have already accepted the offer and more had conveyed their willingness to do so during the remaining two last days till July 15. The power utility once again urged all the remaining non-core workers to avail this final offer before the closing date. The KESC also expressed great concerns over the union miscreants’ attacks on the utility’s officers. The company condemned the involvement of external elements playing a key role in the negative campaign to disrupt the utility’s functioning by carrying out disruptive attacks. Seventy percent of KESC’s offices and service centres continue to be shut down under clear violation of Sindh High Court orders. Landhi VIBC General Manager Naeem Qureshi was beaten up and abused near Landhi-4 while heading for office by four motorcycle riders. His car was also badly damaged and the culprits escaped the scene hurling insults and threats. In another incident, about 15-20 armed union miscreants on a Shehzore truck and two motorcycles on July 12 kidnapped KESC testing team members belonging to SITE Grid, while they were locating a fault at the Frontier Colony MCF, near DFS gate. The culprits also hijacked the van and brutally thrashed the kidnapped workers, threatening to burn them alive at Banaras Chowk. They also snatched seismic phones (testing equipment) from KESC staff but released the team on condition that they would not attend any faults in the area. Afternoon on July 12, KESC Manager Riaz Kazim and linesman Muhammad Altaf were intercepted by a group of miscreants on their way towards Civil Lines police station for meter checking. The attackers insulted and manhandled both the employees and escaped the scene after threatening the employees of dire consequences in case they do not stop attending public complaints. Another group of miscreants hijacked an outsourced maintenance vehicle dispatched from KESC’s Quaidabad Operation Centre for work near Dawood Chowrangi. The culprits also kidnapped the vehicle driver Farooq and released him after four hours but the vehicle is still untraced.