PESHAWAR: WAPDA employees across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joined nationwide protests against the proposed privatization of electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), rising inflation, unemployment, delays in recruitment, lack of security, and the uncertainty faced by contract employees.
Hundreds of workers, led by All Pakistan WAPDA Hydro Electric Workers Union leaders including Central Vice President and Provincial Chairman Haji Muhammad Iqbal, Central Chairman Gohar Taj, Provincial Secretary Noorul Amin Haiderzai, Provincial Vice Chairman Yasir Kamran, Provincial Deputy Chairman Shafiullah, and Provincial Secretary Information Gohar Ali Gohar, held a rally outside the Peshawar Press Club.
Addressing the gathering, Haji Muhammad Iqbal said the government should not privatize profitable national institutions, adding that, like PIA, WAPDA’s assets should not be handed over through privatization.
Gohar Taj warned that if the privatization plan was not withdrawn, nationwide protests would intensify and the government would be responsible for any disruption in electricity supply.
Provincial Secretary Noorul Amin Haiderzai said privatizing DISCOs would increase electricity tariffs, placing an additional financial burden on consumers and negatively affecting the national economy.
The union leaders urged the government to reform and strengthen DISCOs instead of privatizing them. They demanded the immediate regularization of contract employees, recruitment against thousands of vacant posts in PESCO, TESCO and HAZECO, effective measures to curb electricity theft and recover outstanding dues, and urgent action to control inflation and unemployment.
The speakers also called on the government to officially recognize WAPDA employees who lost their lives in the line of duty as martyrs and extend to their families the same compensation and benefits provided to the martyrs of the country’s security forces.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026