Over Rs 31bn approved for PSM
News Desk
Islamabad: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet has approved Rs 31.33 billion for financially ailing Pakistan, Steel Mills, under retrenchment plan and retiring liabilities of its employees, said an official statement of the Finance Ministry on Wednesday.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet here at the Cabinet Division on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Industries and Production brought a summary to the ECC on Pakistan Steel Mills’ retrenchment plan aligned with the legal framework of relevant labor laws. The retrenchment plan has been prepared to reduce the government’s financial burden, and a report on the same has been presented in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
As the process is long one, ECC was requested to start the implementation of the Retrenchment plan on an immediate basis by allocating Rs 19 656.213 million to initiate the process in the light of the report submitted by PSM in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and ECC approved the request of Ministry of Industry.
Another summary about Pakistan Steel Mills was brought to the ECC. The forum was informed that the Supreme Court has directed that an amount of Rs 11.680 billion may be deposited with the Supreme Court to pay off the liabilities of the non-litigants who have retired from PSM till 18th May 2020.
The Committee asked the Ministry of Industries and Production to submit the list of non-litigants and their dues in an earlier meeting. It was briefed to the ECC that 3978 retired employees are non-litigant.
Through a summary, the Ministry of Commerce requested the ECC reduce the margin of the commission of Trade Corporation of Pakistan on importing wheat and sugar to 0.75% from the existing 2%. ECC approved the request of the Ministry of Commerce.
Before the discussion on the summary, the Chair directed that as the availability of wheat is crucial, there should be an update on the issue as the starter in each meeting of the ECC.
Chairman ECC also expressed concern over the different numbers that kept coming up from different quarters as per the need and availability gap of the commodity. After consultation with all the relevant stakeholders, he directed that the Ministry of Food Security inform the public on the matter with figures on the stock available and brought into the country from different government and private sector channels to meet any future demand-supply gap.
Kartarpur
For the management and maintenance of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, ECC allowed establishing a Project Management Unit (PMU), with the creation of 126 posts and recurring budget and other costs to make PMU a self-financing body under the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).
NHA Loan
The ECC allowed (in principle) the conversion of National Highway Authority loans into government grants on the presentation of an operational and corporatization plan for NHA. The Minister for Planning shall oversee the preparation of this plan.
NHA’s request was approved on the ground that the projects selected by NHA for execution are not purely on financial viability, and those projects executed in remote areas have very less revenue generation potential. Still, these are executed as social development projects.
