Ministry of Industries and Production on Tuesday hinted at appointing a new Board of Directors (BoD) and permanent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the non-functional Pakistan Steel Mills in consultation with Ministry of Privatisation aimed at taking prompt decisions. This indication came from Additional Secretary Incharge, Ministry of Industries and Production, Mian Asad Haya-ud-Din at a meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on industries and Production, headed by Asad Omar.
The committee was informed that present and retired employees of Pakistan Steel Mills are committing suicide as they are not being paid their pensions and retirement benefits. Additional Secretary Incharge said that he had recommended to the ECC to approve five-month pension expenses but got approval till January 2018 after some grilling. He argued that the payment of dues to the retired employees through sale of material and scrap is not the solution, adding that this issue needs a different approach.
Chairman Standing Committee informed the committee that he had put forward a proposal in the National Assembly that salaries of President, Prime Minister, Ministers and Parliament members should be paid to the PSM employees, and what is left over be given to President , Prime Minister, Ministers and other parliamentarians . He complained that no one extended support to his proposal. He said he is writing a letter to the President and Prime Minister, recommending that the salaries of PSM employees be paid from Parliamentarians salaries.
The Standing Committee accorded approval to 12 development projects of MoI&P for the year 2018-19 at a cost of Rs 10.722 billion for new and ongoing projects, out of which Rs 2.737 billion has been sought for 2018-19. The committee approved a project titled Handicraft Export Development Project amounting to Rs 395 billion after Ms Sajid Begum of PTI raised objections on the performance of Ahan, an organisation of the MoI&P which deals with this project.
The Standing Committee discussed the comprehensive report of the previous recommendations of the Committee and recommended to approve all the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19 projects except those relating to Aik Hunar Aik Nagar (AHAN). The Standing Committee also discussed "the progress report on the letter of Chairman, Standing Committee of December 18, 2017, regarding investigation of Management/Defalcation in Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Karachi, by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to fix the responsibility for the losses to country".
The Additional Secretary Incharge MOI&P briefed the Committee that the NAB has started work on the reference sent by the Ministry on the instructions of Standing Committee, adding that the Ministry and PSM management have received notices from NAB. Additional Secretary Incharge maintained that most of the accused involved in withdrawal of gratuity and Provident Fund are deceased or retired. Chairman Asad Umar said that action can be taken against retired employees though not against the deceased.
The Standing Committee further discussed the Khadi Crafts Development Company (KCDC) and recommended that the Secretary of MOI&P should give a briefing to recommend whether KCDC should go to the National/Punjab Government. Members who attended the meeting included Mehboob Alam, MNA, Alhaj Shah Jee Gul Afridi, MNA, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, MNA, Sajida Begum, MNA, Ch. Riaz-ul-Haq, MNA and Iftikhar-ud-din, MNA.
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