Sanghar (Hasnain Ashiq Saand) The Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union (Tando Adam Division) staged a protest rally on Tuesday against the proposed privatization of Wapda and other unresolved issues faced by the workers. The rally, led by Divisional Chairman Noor Hassan Bhughio and General Secretary Akhtar Ali Kaloi, began from the Wapda division office and culminated at the local press club, where workers staged a sit-in and chanted slogans against the government.
Union leaders including Noor Hassan Bhughio, Akhtar Ali Kaloi, Imtiaz Shah, Manzoor Khaskheli, Faheem Qureshi, Shakeel Rajput, Irfan Malik, Rustam Ali Magsi, Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry, Tahir Rajput, Ayaz Shaikh, Akbar Nizamani, Lal Kumar, Rajab Ali Bhughio, Abdul Ghani Nizamani, Shoukat Khask, and Om Parkash addressed the gathering. They alleged that the federal government was moving towards privatization of Wapda on the directions of the IMF and World Bank, which they said would be an injustice to thousands of workers and the public at large.
They also criticized the government for failing to make recruitments on vacant posts, leaving existing staff overburdened, while ministers and advisers continued to receive salary increases. Union leaders, following directives from Central Chairman Abdul Latif Nizamani, announced that workers would take part in a sit-in outside Parliament House in Islamabad on September 17, warning that the movement would intensify if the privatization plan was not withdrawn.
