HYDERABAD, Sept 26: The Wapda Hydro-Electric Central Labour Union in a charter of demands has called for payment of day-off wages and other allowances. A meeting of the Joint Works Council of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company on Sunday discussed problems confronting workers.

Hesco chief executive and convenor of the council Khwaja Maqbool Ahmed presided over the meeting.

Wapda director (labour) Shabbir Ahmed, who had come from Lahore to attend the meeting, and senior officers of the company attended the meeting.

The union was represented by its president Abdul Latif Nizamani, secretary general Khursheed Ahmed and other office bearers.

Mr Nizamani submitted a charter of demands which included payment of day-off wages, line staff allowance, payment of pension, marriage grant, holding of seminars for promotion of safety culture, arrangements for transportation of school children of employees, supply of gas to residential colonies of the company, provision for four-wheel vehicles for employees working in desert areas and proper security arrangements to check power theft.

The general secretary of the union, Khursheed Ahmed, demanded that undue interference by the chairman of the water and power standing committee be stopped.

He said protection be provided to the company employees as they were harassed and intimidated during performance of their duties. The Hesco chief directed officials to resolve genuine problems of the workers before the next meeting of the joint works council.

He urged workers to make all-out efforts to check power theft and to accelerate pace of recovery of outstanding dues.

HCCI: The secretary-cum-returning officer of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Basheer Ali Noorani, has said that eight candidates have been elected unopposed for vacant seats of the executive committee of the chamber.