KARAK: The employees of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and elders on Saturday blocked the Indus Highway outside the OGDCL dehydration plant at Nashpa here to protest the proposed privatisation of the company.

The protesters led by local elders, Maulana Abdur Rehman, Murad Khan and Siraj Khan, chanted slogans against the government for privatising the revenue generating organisations of the country.

They were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their demands. Owing to blockade of the Indus Highway passengers faced hardships and long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road.

The protesters said that the federal government instead of creating employment opportunities for jobless people was laying off employed people.

They rejected the decision of the government to privatise OGDCL and alleged that vested interests were behind the unpopular decision.

The protesters said that a large number of employees would become jobless if the OGDCL was privatised. They said that if the government could not provide jobs to the educated people then it should not snatch employment from them.

They demanded of the government to withdraw the decision of privatising OGDCL, otherwise, a series of protests would be launched across the country.

The protesters reopened the road to traffic on their own and dispersed peacefully.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014