Call to coordinate corporate welfare work

A consultative workshop on Wednesday suggested that companies engaged in the exploration of oil and gas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) should have a single platform with all stakeholders onboard to coordinate their welfare activities.

They said that domestic and foreign companies working for the exploration of oil and gas in the southern districts of K-P are already actively participating in social and welfare sectors and trying to bring positive change in the lives of the people. It is necessary to formulate laws, for which all the stakeholders will have to be gathered on a platform and have their say so that the welfare activities may be highlighted as an institutional duty in the future.

The workshop was held under the auspices of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL), a subsidiary of the energy & power department, in collaboration with the Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association (PPEPCA).

While addressing the workshop, Nasir Khan, MPCL representative Miss Huma Zafar and others said that the companies working for oil and gas exploration in the southern districts are engaged in various welfare works. Moreover, under corporate social responsibility, several public service projects have been completed on the platform of PPEPCA, using the funds received as royalties and the funds allocated for welfare works.

The participants urged the government institutions and government officials to support these welfare activities, ensure their continuation on institutional basis under a prevailing mechanism, and give suggestions to further expand them.

At the end of the workshop, the participants were awarded with appreciation shields and it was promised that similar workshops would be held in other parts of the country soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2023.