LAHORE: A number of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) engineers staged protest demonstrations at the sites of various hydropower projects, regional and field offices and other official premises against the direct hiring and posting of engineers in BPS-18.

“We will resist this move by all means as direct recruitment of senior engineers in BPS-18 is damaging for the organisation (Wapda) that claims to be an equal opportunity provider. This practice will shut the door of promotion to the BPS-17 junior engineers appointed in 2017 onwards by Wapda,” Muhammad Kashif, the general secretary of the Welfare Association of Wapda Engineers (WAWE), told Dawn.

The sites where the protests were held by the workers who wore black ribbons on their arms during performance of official duties included Wapda House and other offices located in Lahore, Mangla Dam, Tarbela Dam, Warsak Hydropower, Kachhi Canal, the offices in Hyderabad, Quetta, Chashma Hydropower, Diamer Bhasha Dam, Dasu Hydropower, Dargai, Jabban, Mohmand Dam, Ghazi Barotha Hydropower, Golen Gol Hydropower, Jinnah Hydropower, Duber Khwar Hydropower, Small Hydel Mangla, Wapda Engineering Academy Faisalabad, Wapda Administrative Staff College Islamabad, Wapda House Peshawar and small hydropower stations.

Mr Kashif said the direct hiring of the BPS-18 engineers by Wapda in the name of Diamer Bhasha Development Company was illegal and also it would affect seniority of more than 150 serving junior engineers, which was unacceptable.

“WAWE had already requested the authorities to stop and cancel the illegal hiring process but no positive action was taken, leaving the engineers with no option but to hold peaceful protests across the country.”

Mr Kashif said it was strange that when the Diamer Bhasha company had its own board of directors (BoD), why Wapda was carrying out the recruitment process. Moreover, he added, the engineers hired in BPS-17 had not only been appointed at Diamer Bhasha project but also at the other sites, including Wapda head office.

“It will affect the promotion as soon as Wapda issues appointment letters in the near future to those shortlisted after interviews. If Wapda makes recruitment in BPS-18, how the engineers posted in 2017 onwards in BPS-17 would get promotion,” he argued.

To a question, the WAWE general secretary said the association had approached the Wapda authorities concerned but they didn’t pay any heed.

Talking about other demands, said WAWE sought approval of technical allowance for Wapda engineers 1.5 times of the basic pay as per commitment already made by the authority’s representatives in a meeting held on May 3, 2021. He said the protest in the form of wearing black ribbons at workplaces by Wapda engineers across Pakistan would continue on a daily basis till acceptance of demands by the authority.

“If our demands are not met, we will launch a pen-down strike at all project sites, head office and regional offices across the country after Eid,” Kashif warned.

A senior Wapda official, who requested anonymity, said the authorities had advertised the posts of senior engineers for the Diamer Bhasha Dam project sometime ago, considering that the number of existing engineers might not be enough to perform the jobs as per required standards.

“At this, some engineers wrote to the authorities concerned and told them some of the existing engineers were competent enough to perform jobs as senior engineers and there is no need to recruit BPS-18 senior engineers,” he explained.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2022