LAHORE: Workers of power distribution companies staged protests on Wednesday in big citles at the proposed privatisation of Wapda, especially the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco).

A major protest show was held in Lahore where hundreds of workers held a rally outside the Aiwan-i-Iqbal on Edgerton Road carrying banners inscribed with slogans against the proposed privatisation of national public utilities of profitable electricity distribution companies.

The rallies were also held in Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Multan, Hyderabad and Quetta under the aegis of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Worker Union CBA.

The Lahore rally, through a resolution, demanded that the government review its outdated economic and social policies. It called for adopting a national economic self-reliance policyinstead of mortgaging the national economy.

The resolution condemned a proposal by the Cabinet Committee to privatise 74 percent of shares of profitable Fesco through privatisation and handing over of its control to capitalists in violation of the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Water and Power and against public interest.

The resolution also urged the prime minister to get resolved the just demands of pilots.

IA Rehman, Khurshid Ahmad, Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar, Rubeena Jameel, Yousaf Baloch, Akbar Ali Khan and Osama Tariq also spoke.

The speakers said if metro buses, highways and Orange Line Metro projects worth trillion of rupees could be run in the public sector, why profitable electricity companies were being privatised instead of improving their productivity.

They said the proposed privatisation of the power companies would also cause inter-provincial disputes since Sindh and KP governments had already asked the federal government to hand over the control ofdistribution companies and Tarbela to both provinces.

Spealcers said the workers would spare no efforts to get reviewed this anti-public decision of the government, asking the government to hold dialoguewith the workers and place this national issue before parliament priortakingñnaldecision.

Later, the protesters took out procession, marched towards The Mall Road and held rally outside the Lescoheadquarters.FESCO STAFF: A number of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company employees staged a protest demonstration on Wednesday against the proposed privatisation of the company.

The demonstration was heldoutside Fesco headquarters on the call of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union.

Addressing the protesters, union regional secretary Sarfraz Hundal said the government was implementing `anti-state` policies and the union would not allow it to do so.

He asked parliamentarians to wake up and make the government realise that the country had been facing the problem of electricity production rather than distribution.

He said the government must focus on electricity generation so that the industry could work properly.

Regional deputy chairman Ghaffar Gujjar alleged that the rulers had been trying to facilitate their `blue-eyed people` by selling to them Fesco-like organisations which were earning profit.

He said workers would not allow the government to privatise profitable entities.

He said the privatisation of K-Electric exposed that the experiment had not benefited the masses.

Rana Ghulam Jaffar, Mian Farooq, Naseer Jutt and others also spoke on the occassion.