KESC has more cards to play

You would generally expect to see a beautifully carved company logo, mascot or other symbolic object right in front of the offices of a company as big as KESC.
But, touched by the recent saga, the electricity supplier has placed the remains of a torched car, visible to everyone who passes by the new head office. "We will never forget 20/01/2011," says a black-coloured banner hanging beneath the burnt monument.
Yet, despite the recent defeat in the episode of employees retrenchment and the subsequent reinstatement, it seems they will come back again to address the issue with a different strategy. At least, thats what the mood was when the firms management held an informal session with the journalists yesterday.
The companys CEO, Tabish Gauhar, who addressed the gathering, was of the view that KESCs core function is not to generate employment but to focus on transmission and distribution of electricity to the mega city.
So while the employees are reinstated for now, be rest assured that the episode is far from over and the management seems committed on improving efficiency, of which rationalising the human resource remains the pinnacle.
It may come as a blow to private investors that the KESC had to guarantee the government that it would not challenge the reinstatement order in the court. "This episode has not ended. We will take it to the end and will deal in different ways of doing it within the limits of law", said a dejected Gauhar.
While the management confessed of having underrated the extent of the backlash, it reiterated that the decision was meant for the betterment of KESC to bring in efficiency and to improve core productivity. There were no words minced in stating that the decision in principle would still be pursued, maybe in phases and in a slightly different manner.
Whether or not the current management will continue to run the utility in the near future remains to be seen but the strong commitment it showed on re-launching the VSS suggests difficult times ahead.
Although, there was no explicit mention of Abraaj Capitals intentions, all what was said hinted at a possible withdrawal of the foreign investor from the KESC, which is exactly what was feared when the dangerous precedent was set by the politicians.
Clearly, a company, which was frustrated to the extent that in last weeks negotiations it asked the government to run the entity itself, cannot be held back for long, if any move to retrench employees is blocked in future.
And nothing suggests that it won be. For a CEO who thinks that running KESC is "the toughest job in Pakistan" and whose foreign owners have better opportunities elsewhere, it won come as a surprise if Abraaj eventually does hand KESC back to the government.
And guess what, if it does end up going back to the government, it will be run democratically. Yes, they will run a business entity in a democratic fashion - considering that it is exactly what they asked the current KESC management to do last week. Talk about sovereign lunacy.
One hopes that KESC does not turn into another PIA, PSM or the likes, but for whoever attended yesterdays meeting - even the hopefuls were not overly optimistic.