Thousands of WAPDA workers held a mass protest and sit-in in front of National Press Club (NPC) and marched to Parliament House on Wednesday against privatisation.
The protest was held under the aegis of “All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union CBA along with Engineers Association and was participated from all the provinces and federal capital.
The protestors demanded to the government to accord high priority to raise cheaper electricity through hydel and coal fired thermal power stations costing Rs 1.50 and Rs 7 per unit respectively in comparison with high priced furnace oil thermal power stations costing Rs 18 to 30 per unit and not to privatise national public utility electricity since it is the constitutional obligation of the state to provide cheaper electricity to the people and the industry, commerce and agriculture of the country.
It was highlighted by the protestors that the experience of privatization had already miserably failed in Rawalpindi and Multan private companies since they were not been providing electricity even in those cities, therefore, those were handed over to WAPDA in 1981.
It was also urged to the Government to learn from the bitter experience of the privatisation of Karachi Electric Supply which despite receiving cheaper Electricity @ 650 megawatts daily and receiving billions of rupees as subsidy from the government.
It had neither running its own thermal power plants nor overcome of load shedding and high cost of electricity which had also been acknowledged by federal minister water and power before senate committee of Pakistan. The workers along with the representatives of engineers association carrying banners and chanting slogan against privatization and the World Bank and IMF.
The procession was led by veteran trade union leader General Secretary Khurshid Ahmed along with Abdul Abdul Latif Nizamani President/Provincial Chairman (Sindh), Haji Muhammad Ramzan Achakzai Joint President (Balochistan), Gohar Taj, Chairman Union (Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa), Javed Baloch, Haji Zahir Gul, Ramzan Jadoon (Islamabad Region), Iqbal Dar, Waliur Rehman (Gujranwala), Ch Ghulam Rasool, Ch Khalid Ahmed (Multan Region), Rana Ghulam Jaffar, Ch Sarfraz Ahmed Hundall (Faisalabad Region), Iqbal Qaim Khani (Sind), Rana Abdul Shakoor, Osama Tariq, Mateen Zafar representatives of Engineers Association.
It was declared by the representatives of the workers, they were reluctant to take Industrial Action keeping in view that the Armed Forces of Pakistan had been launching War against terrorism, in case, the government did not hold meaningful talk with the employees, they would be compelled to launch country wide protest and observed protest day all over the country on February 6.