LAHORE, July 15: Wapda on Tuesday agreed to 20 per cent increase in basic pay and 100 per cent increase in conveyance allowance of its employees.

In a meeting held with the Pakistan Wapda Hydro-Electric Labour Union on its charter of demands here, the authority headed by Chairman Shakil Durrani also agreed to enhance the hardship allowance of linemen from Rs200 to Rs1,000 per month and assistant linemen from Rs100 to Rs400 per month. Special allowance was also sanctioned for stenographers.

The authority also agreed to extend the payment of hardship allowance to powerhouse staff till Dec 31. The allowance is being paid to powerhouse staff in Muzaffargarh, Jamshoro, Ghazi Barotha, Guddu, Panjgore, Pasni, Basha and other places. It also agreed to pay job and crew allowance to grid system staff.

The authority also agreed to constitute a high-powered committee to review the rates of different allowances and hold another meeting with the union on its charter of demands next month.

The union team was led by President Abdul Latif Nizamani and Secretary-General Khurshid Ahmad.