KARACHI, Jan 10: Speakers at a rally on Monday condemned the proposed privatization of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, and said it would render thousands of people jobless.

Speaking at a rally, organized by the KESC Employees Committee, they said that the KESC was being privatized on the directives of international financial institutions.

They feared that the organization would be handed to some multinational company, which would be a great loss to the country because it has assets worth billions. They warned that if the process of privatization is not stopped, power supply to the federal capital would be disrupted.

They said the privatization of the KESC would result in enhanced power tariff, and it would cause sufferings to domestic consumers, as well as affect industry. The participants of the rally further demanded that the trade union activities, which had been banned in the KESC many years back, be restored so that the rights of the workers could be safeguarded.

The army personnel, they said, have been posted on the top management slots though they have no experience to run this organization. They should be sent back to their parent departments.

Pointing out that thousands of workers had been employed on contract, they demanded that all such employees be regularized. Earlier the workers gathered at the KESC's Elender Road office. The participants of the rally were carrying banners and chanting slogans against the proposed privatization of the KESC.

Besides a large number of KESC workers, representatives of the WAPDA's CBA Union, civil society organizations, concerned citizens, etc., also participated in the rally where Mairaj Mohammad Khan, Hafiz Taqi, Rashid Rabbani, Yusuf Mustikhan, Karamat Ali, Latif Nizamani, Usman Baloch, Jaleel Shah, Shaikh Majeed, Latif Mughal, Akhlaq Khan, Afeef Alvi and others also spoke.