ISLAMABAD
: The Pakistan Steel Mills stopped its commercial operations in June 2015
without formulating any plane for its 14,753 employees, said the Ministry of
Industries and Production in a reply submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The workforce was cut down to 8,884 in 2019, of which 2,233 are officers and
6,651 workers. The report said that the government spends Rs355 million every
month in net salaries to the employees, adding that this excludes leave
encashment, provident fund or gratuity. The government has spent Rs34 billion in
net salaries so far and paid Rs1.2 billion to deceased employees on
compassionate grounds. “Since 2008-2009, the government has disbursed Rs58
billion to PSM five bailout packages for its survival,” according to the
report. Even the SSGC was told to not disconnect its supply to the mill even
though it owes the gas company Rs22 billion. It said that an expert group was
formed in 2018 to work on the revival of the mills. It recommended that a public-private
partnership should be established to “raise necessary capital investment and
obtain technical
expertise for the revival of the mills”. It even said that the government
should appoint a technical advisory consortium to design a mechanism for the
transparent international bidding process. The report that the payment to the
sacked employees “shall be contingent upon the decision of the Supreme Court and
the payment calculated shall be final once for all and shall not accrue any
further liability against the government of Pakistan”. The Pakistan Steel
Mills, which is owned by the federation, is engaged in the manufacture and sale
of iron and steel. It is spread over 18,642 acres, of which 10,000 acres is for
the Mills while 8,000 is for Steel Town, a residential area, hospital and
school. The Mills have been running in a loss since 2008 and were eventually shut
down in 2015. It has caused losses of Rs229 billion to the national treasury. The
Supreme Court is expected to take up the case of the Pakistan Steel
Mills employees. A bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising
justices Ijazul Ahsan and Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi will take it up. On
June 3, the Economic Coordination Committee approved firing all employees of
the Pakistan Steel Mills. A Rs20 billion package has been prepared for the
employees and each of them will be given at least Rs2.3 million as golden
handshake
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