Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee of Senate on Information Technology has termed the appeal filed by PTCL in the Supreme Court against the committee’s order unjust and an insult to widows of late employees. The meeting of the committee was held at Parliament House on Thursday with Senator Shahi Syed on chair. The chairman said that moving to the apex court by PTCL was the matter of human rights as the department was depriving those employees who gave a big portion of their lives to PTCL from their legal rights. On the other hand, no heed was being paid to the privatisation of the institution for USD 800 million.

The chairman said that the management of PTCI neither took care of the instruction of committee nor respected the orders of the Supreme Court. “Will the pension to those employees who served 35 years in PTCL be paid on their graves?” he asked. The committee said that PTCL earned a profit of approximately Rs 8 billion in one year but the administration was playing tricks with the pensioners. It was imperative that the matter should be considered from a considerate, humanitarian basis.

“Was the decision of Supreme Court wrong? Is that why PTCL appealed it? How much money is involved?” asked the committee chairman. The Ministry of Information Technology Secretary told the committee that some Rs20 billion to Rs 40 billion would be required to pay the dues to the pensioners. The committee also recommended that the contractual employees of telephone industry should be regularised by keeping in view their experience and educational qualifications. He asked MD Telephone Industries of Pakistan that though National Radio Telecommunication Corporation NTRC has made payments to the employees, staff working on contracts should also regularised and payment of salaries should be made to them too.

He asked MD TIP to bring viable proposals regarding the resolution of problems of contract employees in the next meeting of the committee.

The committee also discussed embezzlement of billion rupees in National Information Technology Board (NITB). The committee asked the government not to change Director General FIA, who is probing the matter and to submit a report to the committee as early as possible.