Senate panel tells PTDC to stop firing employees

Senators assert that after the 18th Amendment all properties of PTDC should have been devolved to provinces

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Thursday has barred the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) from sacking its employees.

The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat met at the Parliament House on Thursday and took up a point of public importance regarding the bleak future of PTDC employees. The point had been raised by Senator Attaur Rehman during the Senate session on January 13.

The committee also took up the resolution moved by Senator Kalsoom Parveen on the issue of enhancement of age relaxation in the federal government departments. Moreover, a starred question asked by her in the Senate on January 21, regarding a multiple choice question conducted by Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) for appointment against the posts of assistant directors (investigation) and inspector (investigations) in Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also came under discussion.

Chaired by Senator Talha Mehmood, the panel took strong notice of around Rs680 million in losses incurred by the corporation and the policy of laying off employees.

Senators asserted that after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, all properties of PTDC should have been handed over to the provinces.

The committee sought details of all properties of PTDC, with their valuation, at the next meeting. The panel further directed to freeze the process of sacking employees.

The panel also summoned the chairman of PTDC’s board at its next meeting.

A resolution on enhancing age relaxation in the federal government departments by two years was moved by Senator Parveen. However, the resolution was rejected by the committee.

Deliberating over her question regarding controversial multiple-choice questions (MCQ) in the FPSC test for recruitment in the FIA, the committee stressed the need for strong filters to be placed to streamline the process.

It was suggested to obtain the guidelines of other institutions which hold recruitment-related examinations and compare them with that of FIA.

The meeting was attended by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, Senator Rubina Khalid, Senator Najma Hameed, Senator Dr Asad Ashraf, Senator Dr Ashok Kumar, Senator Naseebullah Khan Bazai, Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan, Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, Senator Kalsoom Parveen and senior officers from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Division, Establishment Division PTDC, FPSC along with all concerned. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2020.