LAHORE: Speakers at a conference said that privatisation and outsourcing policies have led to the loss of over 450,000 jobs in Pakistan over the past two decades.

Organised jointly by the Workers Education and Research Organisation (WERO) and Public Services International (PSI), the conference titled “Public Goods, Not Private Profit: Labour’s Response to Privatisation” brought together trade unions from across the country to Lahore. Representatives from Wapda, irrigation, healthcare, education, municipal corporations, and civil society organisations voiced strong opposition to the government’s ongoing policy of privatising public services.

The conference was chaired by Husain Naqi of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and FES-Pakistan Programme Adviser Abdullah Dayo and Dr Muhammad Azeem from LUMS, who had analysed the long-term impact of privatisation policies in the country, presented their findings to the participants.

Speaking at the conference, Punjab Young Doctors Association (YDA) President Dr Shoaib Khan Niazi discussed the privatisation policy’s adverse effects on healthcare delivery, while Pakistan Community Health Workers Federation General Secretary Raheela Tabassum shed light on the challenges faced by lady health workers.

Other speakers included Neat and Clean Union Wasa Lahore President Shafique-ur-Rehman Bhatti, who spoke about the struggles of sanitation workers, while WERO Director Mir Zulfiqar Ali said, “Public services must remain in public hands. When they are privatised, it is always the workers and the poor who bear the cost.”

The participants warned that privatisation has undermined access to affordable healthcare, education, and essential utilities, while also compromising the safety and security of the public sector workers. Therefore, they said the government must shun such policies and instead improve the working of state institutions.

The conference unanimously passed a resolution opposing privatisation of public services. They called on the government to uphold workers’ rights, ensure job security, allow trade union activities in public institutions, improve labour laws and strengthen public institutions, rather than handing them over to ‘profit mongering’ private entities.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2025