MULTAN, Jan 12: The Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has sought police help to expedite its ongoing recovery campaign.

Sources in the company said the Multan circle SE had handed over the lists of defaulters to the DPO.

DPO Hamid Mukhtar Gondal and the SE discussed the strategy to crackdown the power defaulters and it was decided to launch the campaign from the coming week. Joint raiding teams would be constituted to make the campaign a success.

Sources said that negotiations between police and Mepco authorities were underway to decide the percentage of incentive to be paid to the law enforcement agency on the recovered amount.

He said infact its a policy decision to seek help from district governments to get better results of the recovery campaign.

When contacted, DPO Hamid Gondal expressed his ignorance about any deal between the police and Mepco.

STAYED: A judge of the Punjab Labour Court No 9 has stayed termination/transfer or any other action against 235 workcharged employees of the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa).

The judge passed the orders while issuing notices to the Multan Development Authority chairman, its director general, DCO and Wasa managing director on a petition filed by Iqbal Comrade, the secretary-general of Wasa workers union (CBA).

The judge summoned respondents on Jan 24 to explain their position. The petitioner pleaded that former district Nazim and MDA chairman Makhdoom Shah Makhdoom Qureshi had awarded the status of permanent employees to 235 workcharged/daily wage employees of the Wasa.

Later, the MDA had also declared them the permanent employees under the item No 12 of the agenda in a meeting held on March 2, 2002. But, after the resignation of Shah Mahmood, his successors has been denying the permanent employee status to the workcharged employees.

The petitioner had prayed the status of regular employees for the workcharged employees from the date of their joining the agency.