LAHORE: Electricity workers observed a martyrs day all over the country on Thursday to pay a tribute to the line staff who met with fatal accidents in the line of duty.

The workers held rallies and meetings under the aegis of the All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union in Lahore, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nankana, Multan, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Peshawar and other cities.

The Lahore rally was addressed by union general secretary Khurshid Ahmad who paid a tribute to the martyred workers and their families and sought intervention of the prime minister and the federal energy minister for recruitment of the line staff against the posts lying vacant for the last six years.

He said early actionshould be taken to ease the sufferings of the line staff who were facing fatal and non-fatal accidents due to the staff shortage as they had to perform extra duty to maintain the power supply system. They have to work even on holidays.

Mr Ahmad said some 66 members of the line staff members had fallen victims to fatal accidents during the last year. He also demanded the provision of standard safety equipment to the staff besides raising wages and pension of employees in accordance with a decision taken in the federal budget. He said the family members of the martyred workers should be recruited on a regular basis instead of contract.

In his address, Lesco Chief Engineer Sarwar Mughal appealed to the workers not to work under unsafe working conditions in any circumstances.