NO RETRENCHMENT OF WORKERS THROUGH PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRIVATISATION-Says Senator Waqar

 

Islamabad, March 30, 2010


The government has ensured that not even a single worker is retrenched during the process of the privatisation of State Owned Entities (SOEs) through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan Federal Minister for Privatisation said during a meeting with a group of workers here today.

The Minister said that the government has envisaged pro workers policies to safeguard their rights and to empower them by making them owners of their respective entities through Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme (BESOS). The Minister said that BESOS was the hallmark of the present Government’s pro-workers policies, which would ensure the improvement in efficiency, quality and production and increase the value and profit of the company.

It would make the workers responsible in further improving the overall performance of the entity and their representation on the Board of Directors would directly involve them in the decision making process for the progress of the entity, he said.

Around 500,000 workers of 80 Units will get benefit worth above Rs.100 billion and in addition they would also get divided on their unit certificates. So far 15 BESOS Trusts have been constituted and rest are in progress and the employees representation on the Board of directors would empower them to have their say in the decision making of their respective units.

Senator Waqar said that President Asif Ali Zardari and the Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani attach great importance to the scheme, which ensures empowerment of the workers who have devoted their sweat and blood for the development and progress of their respective entities. The scheme is in accordance with the vision of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, he said.

Under BESOS so far 41,834 employees have been given shares certificates (12 % of GOP shares) in five entities namely Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC), Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Pakistan International airlines (PIA), National Power Construction Company (NPCC) and NESPAK. BESOS is effective from August 14, 2009 and subsequently the eligible workers will receive benefits according to the set formula within the stipulated period. The scheme is expected to benefit around 500,000 employees of 80 entities. The 80 SOEs identified for the scheme include 16 listed and 33 unlisted public companies, 17 private companies and 14 SOEs established under special Act/ Ordinance.

So far 14 BESOS Trusts have been registered for implementation of the Scheme in Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (PMTF), Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC), Jamshoro Power Company (JPC), National Investment Trust (NIT), Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC), Lakhra Coal Development Company (LCDC), National Construction (NC), National Insurance Company (NIC), National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), Pakistan Reinsurance Company (PRC), Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), Islamabad Electric Supply company (IESCO), Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) and Mari Gas Company (MGC) while BESOS Trusts in Telephone Industry of Pakistan (TIP), Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC), Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and Pakistan Steel Fabricating Company (PSFC) would be registered during the current week.

The Minister added that the scheme was historic and would usher a new era of workers revolution who were being given free of cost 12 % of the GoP shares in the SOEs and the entities already privatised. The scheme is not limited only to the non-privatised entities as it also includes all the privatised entities having GoP shares.

The group of workers lauded the efforts of the government undertaken to empower them irrespective of any political affiliation, which they expressed has confirmed that the PPP government is serving the people of Pakistan with devotion, sincerity and dedication.