WEB DESK: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has come forward in favor of the sacked employees of Pakistan Steel Mills and riled the government on massive lay-off but has remained ignorant of the corruption records broken during its regime.
The incumbent government of PPP in Sindh province is supporting the protests.
Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, during a presser, claimed that PPP uplifted the country’s economy when it assumed power in 2008.
However, the minister deliberately dismissed the facts why Pakistan Still Mills plunged into a loss since then and asked if the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had taken any steps to revive the deficit-hit steel production unit.
The education minister said that the Sindh government was fully capable of running the industrial unit, claiming that they can make it profitable too.
Sindh chief minister had formed a four-member committee of the provincial cabinet, which would talk to the federal government, Ghani said.
Who fed the white elephant?
However, who is responsible for putting a profitable production unit at a loss for over a decade now and the culprit behind the corruption in Pakistan Steel Mills.
The federal government sacked as many as 4,544 workers of Pakistan Steel Mills working in basic pay scale (BPS) 2, 3, and 4.
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Deficit-Ridden Pakistan Steel Mills Sacked Employees
Most of them were teachers, firemen, drivers, operators, and security staff.
The federal cabinet approved the recommendation of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
ECC had suggested sacking over 4,000 employees of steel mills after a golden-handshake settlement corresponding to their grades.
The average worth of the package was around Rs 2.3 million per employee.
According to official figures, the deficit-ridden industrial unit were paying Rs 70.5 million in salaries despite ‘no production activity’. The deficit has climbed to Rs 255 billion.
One of the primary reasons that led Pakistan Steel Mills to the position it is in today is political hiring when the PPP came into power.
Reports disclosed that there were surplus employees in the institution facing prolonged closure.
Due to errant hiring by PPP, there were up to four employees on a single seat.
Besides this, massive grafts were exposed during inquiries into the finances of Pakistan Steel Mills too.
Supreme Court (SC) at different instances had pointed them out as well.
Meanwhile, the reversal of the decision to privatize steel mills due to the intervention of the SC led by former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry put the issue on the backburner.
At that time, many private entities were keen to take over operations of Pakistan Steel Mills however the apex court blocked it.
Since then, the wounds of Pakistan Steel Mills did not heal but only worsened.