SARGODHA: As the process of transfer of Sargodha Municipal Corporation (MC) staff and assets to the newly-established Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) is nearing completion, the “well-connected” employees who were allegedly receiving salaries without doing their jobs have started efforts to continue working in the old setup.

According to sources, these employees, many of them relatives of local officials and those recommended by politicians, are exerting pressure on their bosses so that their names are not included in the list of those to be transferred to Wasa.

The sources say, some of these employees have succeeded in getting their names excluded from the initial list.

After the establishment of Wasa, the water supply, disposal works and sewerage wings’ employees were to be transferred to the new agency.

The sources, however, say that senior officials have taken notice and sought the details of all the employees from the Schedule of Establishment, according to which the lists of the employees to be transferred to Wasa are being prepared afresh.

Wasa will start functioning in Sargodha from Aug 15, for which the transfer of assets and staff needs to be completed by Aug 12.

According to the sources, the fifth meeting of the District Transaction Team was chaired by Commissioner Jahanzeb Awan, in which the progress on the transfer of assets, field staff and machinery to Wasa was reviewed.

The commissioner was informed that 168 sewer workers of MC have been identified for their transfer to Wasa and the list of water supply staff will also be completed soon. After this, Wasa will have field staff available in both the key wings of sewerage and water supply.

The meeting was also informed about the establishment of Wasa’s complaints cell.

The commissioner directed that the transfer of assets and staff from MC to Wasa should be complete by Aug 12 so that the new agency could start functioning on Aug 15.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2025