President Asif Ali Zardari distributed unit certificates among 15 employees of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) under the Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS) at an event hosted by the Ministry of Privatisation at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Monday.
According to a press release issued here, this is the first time President Zardari distributed BESOS certificates among employees of State Owned Entities (SOEs) since the launch of the scheme. Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain, Privatisation Minister Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah and Water and Power Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, besides government and media representatives were present on the occasion.
The event was moderated by Federal Secretary, Ministry of Privatisation Shahid Hussain Raja. Besides PPL employees, Chairman PPL Board Hidayatullah Pirzada and other directors, MD and CEO Asim Murtaza Khan and DMD Khalid Rahman also attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, President Zardari highlighted the importance of the scheme in recognising the contribution of workers, motivating them to further improve performance and optimise exploration and reserves replenishment of hydrocarbons to help address the increasing energy deficit faced by the country.
BESOS was initiated on August 14, 2009, under which the government decided to distribute 12 percent of its equity among workers of SOEs to encourage stake and ownership, resulting in improved performance. Share distribution is being carried out on the basis of length of service in the company.
The dividend received from these shares goes into the PPL Employees Empowerment Trust, founded under BESOS, which disburses 50 percent of the dividend among employees, transferring the remaining 50 percent to the Privatisation Commission. The amount will be used to pay back retirees and other employees who may leave the company before superannuation.-PR
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