Pakistan Steel Mills: Not just staff but CEO and managers also getting free electricity

Sick unit stays virtually shut, employees have not been paid salaries since Oct 2016

ISLAMABAD: Not only the 12,500 employees of the financially troubled Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) are getting free electricity to a certain limit, the top management including the chief executive officer, general managers and directors are also enjoying the facility.

The disclosure was made in a report prepared by the Privatisation Division, which was taken up for review in a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on January 18.

Pakistan Steel Mills directed to sell inventory to settle debt

The Privatisation Division told the ECC that it was approving salaries for employees of the steel mill while day-to-day expenses were being met by PSM itself after disposing of its finished and work-in-progress inventory.



The day-to-day expenditure also included payments to the PSM employees for consumption of 150 electricity units per month under Clause 41 of the CBA Agreement 2009.

Furthermore, the division said, a similar facility was also provided for the CEO, general managers and directors, which had been approved by the PSM board of directors.

It pointed out that steel mill operations were at a standstill and its employees had not been paid for the past three months since October 2016.

Earlier, the ECC in its meeting held on December 15, 2016 approved payment of one-and-a-half-month salaries to the PSM employees covering the period from mid-August to September 2016.

The ECC directed the Privatisation Division to provide details of the terms and conditions under which the mill was paying electricity bills of its employees.

In the December huddle, the ECC was informed that 12,500 employees of PSM, a sick unit, were receiving free electricity worth millions of rupees. That prompted the committee to launch a probe into the matter.



Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rahman pointed out that PSM had demanded Rs75 million for bearing expenses of electricity bills, describing it as a substantial amount at a time when the mill remained virtually closed.

She asked whether the mill was also paying electricity bills of its employees and whether the payment was being made as a result of some contractual obligation or otherwise.

PSM chief financial officer told the ECC that at present the mill had a workforce of 12,500 and the electricity bill payment was part of the terms and conditions of employment.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2017.

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