Employees of Lakhra Power Plant held a protest demonstration for nonpayment of salaries for five months by the plant authorities. The protesters’ leaders Mazhar Mallah, Jaffar Khoso and Asad Mahesar claimed that they (employees) were put in a surplus pool under ministerial directives and they were absorbed in power distribution companies of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) and Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco), but still they were not getting salaries.
The powerhouse, according to Mazhar Mallah, remained closed since July 2017 when the plant had caught fire erupted in an underground cable that was connected with a pumping machine. Around 236 employees of the power house were put in the surplus pool, he said, adding that the affected staffers had been holding protest regularly for payment of their August-Dec 2022 salaries, but in vain.
The Lakhra power plant was leased out to the Associated Group for 20 years in 2006 by the Privatisation Commission, but its employees’ union led by Mazhar Ali Mallah and Punhal Jamali had questioned it before the Sindh High Court and the court had barred the government from privatising the coal fired power plant while ruling in favour of the employees.
