‘Politicians pressuring power distribution companies to recruit favourites’

LAHORE: Thousands of candidates from BPS-1 to BPS-5 are being recruited in the electricity distribution companies LESCO (Lahore), MEPCO (Multan), IESCO (Islamabad), FESCI (Faisalabad), GEPCO (Gujranwala), HESCO (Hyderabad), SEPCO (Sukkur), TESCO, PESCO (Peshawar), and QESCO (Quetta). Some members of the national and provincial assemblies have been putting pressure on the management of the companies to recruit their nominees without any merit. This was stated by veteran trade union leader Khurshid Ahmed, General Secretary of All Pakistan Wapda Hydroelectric Workers Union in a press statement on Friday. The statement urged the prime minister and federal minister of water and power to intervene against the nepotism and favoritism. The PML-N, the statement said, had pledged before the nation in its election manifesto to promote justice and merit in all walks of life including public service.
The recruitment in the national public utilities on the basis of nepotism and against equal treatment of all citizens as guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution is highly condemnable, the statement noted. The ongoing practice of discrimination is a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights of young candidates who are entitled to recruitment on merit with equal treatment. Past illegal recruitments were annulled by the Lahore and Multan High Courts and those responsible were taken to task and these cases were still under process in the NAB.